Despondency
by Dr. Rockefeller
Summary: After a rash decision, Sierra is convinced that she has put herself in a position that she can't turn back from. Determined to flee the country, it would take an act of God to stop her. But once she realizes the reality of what she had just thrown away, wanting a way out of this nightmare, that act of God may come her way.
1. Red Letter

"Sierra, it's time to get up!"

In a groggy slumber, the lioness slowly opened her eyes, reading the time on her clock. "6:00 am..." she muttered. With what little strength she had, she tried calling back, "Just a few more minutes, mom!". As she slowly closed her eyes again, her mother retorted back from downstairs, "No more minutes, young lady! You were supposed to get up 30 minutes ago...maybe if you didn't stay up all night talking to your boyfriend, you wouldn't be so tired!". Angered, she tossed her blanket aside, halfway falling out of bed as she rubbed her eyes, muttering out softly, "I was only up until midnight, you bitch".

Slowly stumbling downstairs, barely awake, she peered over to her mother in the kitchen, who returned the stare back at her, "Well, look who decided to get up this morning" she said sarcastically. Sierra said nothing, still trying to wake up as she fell into a chair at the table, with her mother setting a hot bowl of cereal in front of her. "Now, I know you aren't a fan of quinoa, but I figured that you need the protein on a Monday" the elder lioness explained softly. Sierra just stared blankly at the food, letting the steam raise into her face and condense. "Not to mention, the alternative is eggs and sausage, and we all know how you feel about that" her mother continued, lifting an eyebrow with a hint of concern in her expression, "What's wrong?" she asked in a sharp yet caring tone. Holding her head up with one paw, Sierra muttered back, "I'm not hungry...". "Well, you better eat something. I spent the last 30 minutes making it!" her mother spoke back a bit frustrated. "And if you wont have it, your father will. So you better make up your mind on what you want to do". With a heavy sigh through her nose, Sierra pushed the bowl aside, "I'm sorry, mom...". Her mother sighed softly, her face softening up fully into concern as she finished washing out some dishes, "Sweetheart, what's wrong?". "It's nothing, just...I don't want to go to-" Sierra answered, before being cut off by a deeper voice coming from upstairs. "Kate, can you help me find my razor?" it echoed. The mother sighed, "Coming, dear", before returning her gaze back to Sierra. "We'll talk about this later, but for now..." she spoke, reaching over to gently hug her daughter. Sierra limply fell into her grasp, resting her on against Kate's chest before her being let go. "You have a good day at school, ok? It's almost the end of the semester" Kate wished her while walking upstairs. With that, Sierra grabbed her bag, and walked out into the cold desert air, the desert sun still not hinting at rising anytime soon.

* * *

At school, Sierra glanced over at the clock, propping her head up with her arm. "_7:50 am...what bullshit is this?_" she thought to herself. Her teacher was mere background noise, not being able to focus or pay attention from her drowsiness. Her attention turned to the window, a grey sky, light barely filtering the air. "_I just want out of here..._" she begged in her head, before being abruptly interrupted with a paper slammed down onto her desk. Looking over, it was littered in red marks, topped off with the message "34% - SEE ME AFTER CLASS". Sierra tucked her ears against her head, looking up to her teacher who returned a disappointing glare. "3:00 ...I'll make special time for you, Sierra" she spoke quietly, trying to keep it down to avoid any eavesdropping. Staring back down at the paper, her eyes gently watered up, cheeks burning slightly as she covered her mouth looking down, "_God...dammit!_" she thought to herself.

During class intermission, Sierra sorted through her locker, exchanging textbooks and papers before stumbling across a picture of her with a black male cougar. She smiled softly at it, slipping it into her backpack, thinking to herself "_I'm going to need you today.._.". As she closed it, she gasped and jolted back, seeing the same cougar from the photograph appear right behind the door. "Oh, god..you scared me!" she said softly, playfully slapping him on the shoulder. "Heh...sorry babe. Guess I'm still a silent type" he shrugged off. Sierra leaned in to softly kiss his cheek, smiling back pretty with a soft blush, "Oh, Chris...you said we were meeting up tonight, right?". The cougar nodded, "Yea, behind the old textile factory. No one's gonna see us there. Just remember about the nip" he winked. The lioness giggled, holding her cheek in delight, "I wont..but you owe me! I almost got caught with it by my mom" she added. Chris only gave out a soft chuckle, before nodding and walking away, hand buried in his jacket's pockets.

Later on in the afternoon, Sierra was in the office after school, watching the clock hands tick by. She held the paper she was given back earlier in the day. "_Mom is gonna kill me.._." she thought to herself, obsessing over the 34% score. The door behind her open, with the lioness teacher entering, "Good afternoon, Sierra" she greeted, though in a disappointing tone. "H-Hi Ms. Robbins" she stuttered out, covering her cheeks and face with her paws. Taking a seat, the relatively young teacher sighed, pulling out a few other papers, each with their own scoring; '_67%...54%...41%_...'. Sierra only stared blankly, doing her best not to tear up at the sight. "Sierra..." her teacher started off, "I get calculus isn't exactly your strong suit, but-". Sierra had cut her off, "No, b-but, I-" she stuttered, choking up on the tears she tried to hide. "Listen..." Ms. Robbins retorted. "I like you, Sierra...you were one of my best students last year. And I have tried time after time to help curve these tests, give you extra resources, volunteering my own time to you." she continued. "But...this...I just can't keep doing this for you". Removing her glasses, she stared back up to the younger feline, with a soft shake of her head, "Is there something going on at home?" she softly asked. Sierra's ears tucked back to her head, looking down in dismay, "No...er..w-well". "Well what?" Ms. Robbins inquired, raising an eyebrow. "It's nothing...sorry..." the lioness replied. "Very well, then..." her teacher responded. "It's okay if you aren't able to tell me. I really shouldn't be offering you this, however..." Ms. Robbins added, putting the graded papers away. "If, on the final exam this semester, you receive a 90% or higher, i'll forgive all your grades to a C...if not, then...well, there's nothing left I can do". The two both stood up, Sierra, giving a somber half focused on her teacher. "You're a charming young girl. I know you're better than this" Ms. Robbins added, opening the door for Sierra, "Don't make me change my mind on that".

* * *

Sierra dejectedly walked back into her home an hour later, taking off her backpack and lazily tossing it on the couch. Before even taking on step on the stairs, her mother walked to in front of the top stair landing in the midst of putting in an earring, "Oh, Sierra! I'm glad you're home so soon" she said, beginning to slowly walk downstairs. "I forgot to mention, honey; you're coming to dinner with us hosted by Siegfried and Roy tonight". Sierra audibly groaned, with an eye roll. "Really, mom?" she asked in frustration, "I'm hanging out with Chris tonight!". Kate quickly retorted, "Excuse you, that's no way to talk to your mother! You're coming with us, no 'if', 'and', or 'but' about it" with her hands firmly gripping her own hips. "Do I make myself clear? It's important to your father that we all go". Sierra sighed again, "Fine...", acting in compliance, walking past her mother upstairs and straight into her room.

She opened the upper drawer to her dresser, reaching into a sock to pull out a decent size bag of catnip. "Dinner my ass" she whispered under her breath, "You can't tie my down to dad's job forever" as she tossed on the bed. In her closet, she pulled out a black hoodie, with a bong wrapped inside it, and a lighter buried within the same shelf. Her mind raced with all the times in the past year she was dragged into her parents' lives, how argumentative she became, how bottled-up she tried being. Grabbing a canvas satchel from under the bed, she neatly packed the drugs and paraphernalia inside, being sure to wrap the nip in a scent-filled cloth and spraying the inside with lavender aerosol, before fastening the straps shut and leaving it on her bed.

As Sierra made her way downstairs to grab her backpack, she was caught by an old, raspy voice. "Not looking forward to tonight, are you?" an elderly lion asked. Sierra only shook her head, "No, Grandpa" she answered softly. "Hey, don't sweat it kid. I hated those god-forsaken dinners too. I rather have stayed home with my friends Buddy Weiser and Miller" he chuckled, gently elbowing her with a wink. His granddaughter only huffed with a gentle eye-roll, "I'm not really a kid anymore, Grandpa" she softly responded, continuing to fish in her backpack. "I just want out of this house, I know I could make it on my own". Her grandfather only laughed, bending over and gripping his knees, "Hey, I'd be impressed if you made it 2 weeks in the real world! You have no idea what it's like out there!". Sierra snuck the photo she had earlier into her pocket, though accidentally pulling the failed test halfway out of her backpack earlier before walking briskly upstairs, "Yea, thanks Grandpa". The elderly lion's laughter slowly subsided, "Hey, I'm just being real with ya! All you 16 year old kids think you know so much about how to handle yourself". He walked into the kitchen bar, opening a bottle of Jim Bean and pouring himself a small glass. "Oh, Sarmoti..." he said to himself, "she's a lot like you, innit?".

* * *

"Sierra?" Kate called out, walking over to her daughter's room, formally dressed. She softly knocked on the closed door, "You in there? Come on, it's almost time to go". After a few moments of silence, she gripped the knob, turning it slowly and pushed the door in to a dark room, "We're gonna be late-" she cut herself off, seeing an empty room. Her face quickly changed to anger, clenching her fist tightly, "Oh, I can't believe her..." she muttered under her breath. A heftier male walked to the door frame, fastening a tie around his neck, "What's going on, babe?" he asked confused. "Larry, your daughter just ran off to see that damn boyfriend of hers!" she growled, slamming the door shut behind her. "What is it about him that she's so obsessive about?" Kate asked in frustration. "Well, weren't you like that when we dated?" Larry asked with a raised eyebrow. "Oh, don't take her side of it!" she snapped back, walking back downstairs. "I'm not!" Larry defended, "It's just girls her age are-" before being cut off by the sight of his wife pulling out a loosely held paper poking out of Sierra's backpack. Her frustration turned into rage, gritting her teeth with her claws piercing through the sheet. "What's wrong?" Larry inquired. Kate said nothing, simply turning the paper around to see a large red "34%". "Ohhh..." the lion trailed off, gripping his chin with a wide-eyed expression. "Let's just go, Larry. We'll deal with her later".

* * *

Sierra shivered in the could, leaning back against the factory brick wall, her bag beside her and tightly curling herself into a ball the best the could, her black jacket doing little against the autumn cold. She looked down at her text messages;

_ "Hey, I'm here" 9:10 pm (seen)_

_ "Where are you?" 9:25 pm (seen)_

_ "You there?" 9:53 pm (seen)_

_ "I'm freezing out here! wtf are you!?" 10:22 pm (seen)_

She pulled out the bong, filling it with some water that she had brought. With a sigh, she packed in the catnip into the metal bowl, before opening the lighter, "_You better have not blown me off.._." she thought to herself. After a hit, she shivered, coughing a bit from the potency, and sniffling from the cold. Her shivering increased, the fumes and heat doing little to warm her as her body loosened up, "_maybe he got caught up in something.._." she tried justifying, putting in some ear pieces to listen to some slow grunge. Humming softly to the music, getting looser with each hit, she turned to see the time again. "11:05 pm...you have got to be kidding me" she muttered in a chilled voice, her breath now visible from the cold air. She eventually picked up her phone, dialing her boyfriend's number.

Three rings, no answer.

"_Come on...why are you not answering?_" she thought to herself. She tried again, again with no answer. After taking another hit, she tried dialing the number one more time.

Finally, an answer.

"H-hello?" a weak voice answered. "H-heeeEEeey" Sierra replied in a mildly delirious state. "Where..w-where are you-" she tried to continued, before being caught off by the sound of giggling in the background of the phone. Suddenly, the high had flushed out of her. "Uh...whose that in the-" she tried to continue, only to be cut off by her boyfriend again. "Haha, nah don't worry babe...I'm trying to talk to some weirdo on the phone..." he replied. Sierra had dropped the bong, breaking it on the pavement, fowl smelling water spilling out of the mouthpiece with some still smoldering bits of nip falling out the bowl. "Chris...who the hell is in the background? I thought I was your girlfriend?" she angrily growled. There was a pause for a minute, with slight shuffling being heard through the call. "Wait..wh-..o-OH, S-Sierra! H-heyyy! I, uh-" Chris tried to recover, but was caught off by the rage on the other end of the line, "I'VE SAT MY ASS OUT HERE FOR 2 HOURS WAITING FOR YOU, AND YOU WERE CHEATING ON ME WITH SOME OTHER WHORE?". Tears welled up in her eyes, trying to grip what she had just realized. Her breath began to stutter, trying to hold the phone away from her mouth and hide it. "Wait, Sierra, l-listen, I-" Chris tried to explained, only to be met with raging fury, "SAVE IT, JACKASS", with Sierra hanging up, and quickly blocking the number. She threw her phone to the ground, crossing her arms across her knees, and buried her face inside, sobbing in lament in the cold desert night.

* * *

"_1:30 am_..." she thought to herself, looking down at her near-dead phone, gingerly walking up to the front door of her home, and opening it to a pitch dark room. She slowly closed the door, being careful not to wake anyone, only to paralyze from the flick of the living room lights. Slowly turning her head, her face turned a flustered red to see her mom, cross-armed and cross-legged with an angered face. "And where have you been all night?" she asked with an upset tone. Sierra's breath picked up, becoming heavy and erratic, crossing her arms in an X before extending them out, "Mom, I can NOT handle this right now" she retorted, still upset from earlier. Her mother took a sniff, widening her eyes from the burnt smell of nip, and standing straight up in fury, "YOU ARE A NIP-HEAD!" she accused, pointing at her, "That wasn't just your grandfather's stash that we found a couple months ago, wasn't it!?". "I TOLD YOU, I CAN'T DEAL WITH THIS RIGHT NOW" Sierra screamed back, fists clenched and teeth gritted. "Oh yea? I suppose you cant deal with this either, huh?" Kate shot back, holding up the failed test she found from earlier. "You've been doing drugs with that deadbeat boyfriend you've been obsessing over, and now you have the audacity to yell at me?" Kate continued. "MOM, I-" Sierra tried to respond, only to be cut off again. "What else have you been failing? Don't try to turn this around, you CAN NOT wiggle your way out of this one!" Kate continued to fire. "I have it under control-" Sierra tried to defend, again only to be cut off. "Bullshit! If you had it under control, you wouldn't have needed that nip to cope. You SHOULD have come to US because WE have your best inter-" Kate tried to lecture.

"Oh FUCK OFF with that 'Best Interest' crap. Last time I came to you for advice with my grades, all you did was berate me and continued to bolster that it was my fault instead of-".

"DON'T use that language with me, young lady!" Kate intruded, marching right up to her daughter. Only to be met with her arms being grappled. Sierra loaded her arms up, and with the full weight of her body, violently shoved Kate backwards. "HEY-" she cried out, stumbling into the coffee table, falling over it and on the other side, propped up by on the couch. "YOU WANT YOUR FATHER INVOLVED IN THIS?" she yelled, seething at what just happened.

"Go and get him then. See if I give a damn!" Sierra yelled, running up the stairs into her room. "FUCK THIS FAMILY!" she yelled out, slamming the door shut and locking.

Aroused and irate out of bed, Larry stumbled into the hall. "Hey, what's going on down there?" he said, rubbing an eye. "Sierra!" he called, knocking on the door. Instead of a response, he was met with something heavy smashing against the other side of the door, causing the lion to stumble back in surprise. Shaking his head, he carefully made his way downstairs, gripping the rail tightly to see his wife on the floor, struggling to get up. "Ah, Christ..." he muttered softly, hurrying his pace and kneeling down beside Kate, gripping her arm and shoulder to help lift her up. "Easy there..." he said softly, "Are you okay, dear?". "I'm fine..." Kate sharply responded, dusting off her arm and shoulder. "Your daughter decided it was a good idea to push me over the table and into the couch" she tried to calmly explained, still seething inside. "And she thinks that these drugs don't do anything extreme to you" she piled on. Larry sighed and held his wife, head over her own as Kate leaned into him with closed eyes, sighing gently holding her own head in anguish. "Come on" he said softly, holding her still and guiding her upstairs. "We'll talk about it tomorrow".

"Well what kind of kerfuffle did you all just had?" Sarmoti interjected at the sight of the couple. Larry just gave a stern look and a gently head-shake, "Not now, Sarmoti". The elderly lion sighed in a low growl, walking back inside his room without a word.

The next morning, Larry stretched his arms, looking over to see his wife still on her side. He looked over to the clock, then gently gripped Kate's shoulder. "Babe...it's 6:00 am...what are you still doing in bed?". Kate lazily turned up at Larry, gently moving to sit herself up. "Ugh...it's last night...". Larry hugged her gently, with Kate returning the favor as they enjoyed each other's embrace for the precious few seconds. "I...maybe...no...I was definitely too harsh on her" Kate whispered, burying her face in both her hands before they glided off. "Well, go talk to her. Knowing her, she's still probably in bed" he advised. "But...you think she'd want to see my face so soon?" she asked, gently swinging her legs over the bed's edge, and calmly standing up.

"Well, if you won't...who will? What am I gonna do to fix it?".

"Larry, I don't know, okay!?" Kate sighed. "Alright...I will" she eventually relented.

She slowly walked over to see, as expected, a closed door to Sierra's room. "Honey...?" she asked, wiping her own face again with her paws. "Sweetheart, I'm...I'm so sorry about last night...I know it's hard, but..." she tried to explain, wiggling the locked knob. "...We need to discuss what happened". Reaching up, she glided her hand on the door frame, gripping a lock-pick from above to slide in the door's slot. Wiggling it open, she stepped in slowly. "Sweetie?" she called out, staring at the occupied bed.

Walking over carefully, she gently pressed her hand on Sierra. "Come on, we need to-" before cutting herself off, feeling her hand just sink into the bed. Puzzled, she pulled back the covers, revealing only a pile of pillows that laid under them. Kate gently sighed, turning around to walk out, but caught the eye of a note. She picked it up in curiosity, reading the hastily scribbled penmanship.

Her face slowly changed to confusion, morphing into horror as she covered her mouth with her hand, squeaking out a cry silently as her eyes welled up once more, falling back into the bed behind her. Tears flowed uncontrollably from her eyes, weeping inconsolably.

Larry walked rushed into the room, kneeling quickly to his wife's aid. "What's wrong?" he asked in concern, seeing the paper in her hand. Kate buried her face into her husband's shoulder, holding him tightly in grief as he mulled over the letter.

It was a goodbye note.


	2. Contingency

_"I couldn't handle the stress of being here any more"_

_"I hated the claustrophobia, the constant criticism, the lack of control"_

_"Don't bother looking for me, you'll never be able to do it"_

_"Please, for the love of God, forgive me"_

_"I'm sorry"_

Larry's eyes turned from a squint to wide-eye'd, gaping his jaw as his loose grasp lets the paper through his fingers. He turned back to his wife, seeing the side of her face buried in his ribs, sobbing. He tightened his arm around her, doing his best to stay strong for her. "God damn!" Kate cried out, "I-It's all my fault". Larry rested his head on top of hers, gently stroking the back of her head, "Kate, it isn't-".

"YES, IT IS" Kate interrupted, "Our daughter is probably dead because of what I-"

"Kate, listen!" Larry interjected, gripping her shoulders and staring deep into her eyes. "We don't know that for sure".

"How can you-"

"I don't see anywhere in this note that says she was gonna do it, don't think like that!" Larry continued in a stern tone.

Gingerly walking into the room, the elder lion carefully leaned down to grab the note, reading intently through his glasses, "Well...I don't think I'd ever live to say this, but your husband is right". Kate's head slowly swiveled over, breathing heavily with a trembling jaw to her father's words. "I've seen this all the time when I was in Siegfried and Roy's show. These kids trying to join a Vegas act or circus...always thinking they can outrun their problems. Sierra ain't the type of girl to just, ya know...'off herself' when the going gets tough. This reads exactly like someone who didn't know how to handle stress and thought they could start over". Sarmoti tossed the paper aside onto the dresser, gingerly walking in to sit on the other side of Kate. "Listen, we can still find her...now there was only a five hour span in which she could have left. Without much money, she couldn't have gone far" Sarmoti explained. "Dad...Las Vegas has so many buses, a train depot, a massive airport. She could be anywhere in Nevada by now!" Kate exclaimed.

Sarmoti opened up several other drawers, seeing the cluttered mess Sierra left behind in her haste to leave. To his surprise, was her passport and phone resting on top of some of her shirts. "Well...didn't think teenage girls these days could live without them" he said, holding them up for both Larry and Kate. "She ditched this so we couldn't track her...the smart idiot" he continued, tossing the phone on her bed. "The only good news is that she left her passport behind...that'll eliminate 190 or something countries we have to check". Larry stood up, opening his arms to his side, "I mean, we have to go to the police about this". "Don't bother. Those bastards ain't gonna follow up on this with so little to go off of" Sarmoti said. "Besides, I'm sure she couldn't have gone far just yet".

* * *

"_This is Major Tom to Ground Control...I'm stepping through the door_" Sierra hummed to herself, letting the music hold and comfort her thoughts. The bus's soft suspension carefully pushes up and glides her body along the seat, the brief moment of weightlessness the only thing she could enjoy. "_And I'm floating in the most peculiar way..._". Her ear pods tucked nicely inside, gripping the small iPod in her fist between her legs; one of which propped up on the hot wheel well, with her elbow supporting her head from the knee. Her face was melancholic, eyes half shut and she gleamed out the window; watching the Vegas Strip pass her by. The extravagant water works, the MGM hotels, the flashing neon's slowly dimming as the sun cracks into dawn. "_And the stars look very different today_...".

She gently sighed to herself, looking down at her canvas bag; only a photo of herself and her younger brother to remind herself of what she left behind. Her thumb gently rubbed across it, near her brother's face, reminiscing about the fights the had, all the things they've done together. She carefully tucked the photo inside an outer canvas pocket, "I'm sorry, Hunter...' she whispered quietly. The paw under her chin reached to grip her face, feeling her cheeks burn, huffing out sharply as she dragged her paw down. "No...not now..." she stammered, "I can't look back now". Her attention returned back to the window, watching as the skyscrapers turned to homes, eventually to the sign.

_"Drive Carefully. Come back soon!"_

"_For here am I sitting in a tin can._.." Sierra continued to hum, watching the bus's rear-view mirror have a shrinking skyline in it, "Far above the world...". Her breath stuttered, shaking her head to try and snap out of it. "_Planet Earth is blue, and there's nothing I can do_..."

* * *

"Ma'am, I'm sorry...There isn't much we can do". "Officer, please!" Kate pleaded, "I mean...surely you can look at-". "Listen..." the officer interrupted in a lethargic tone, "We get...what...thousands of missing persons cases and runaways each year in Vegas. With her age, unless there is probable cause that this was an abduction, we don't think a search party is going to be worth the time". Kate looked down in dejection, with Larry angrily pointing at the cop, "Listen sir, you take on hundreds of damn murder cases each year, you mean to tell me-"

"There is no suspicion of a fowl pl-"

"So what!? The intent is clear that she's gone and-"

"I CAN'T launch an investigation with so little to work with."

"Bullshit!" Larry yelled. "Honey, please..." Kate said in concern. "No, Kate, can you get a load of this guy!?"

"Sir, I'm gonna have to ask that you leave the precinct" the officer ordered.

"OH YEA? I'D LIKE TO SEE YOUR FUCKIN' FACE WHEN YOUR-" Larry screamed, pointing right at the officer behind the desk before two more rushed in front of him. "Sir, I'm telling y'all, it ain't worth it!" one of them exclaimed, arm braced across the lion's chest with the other in a fist pressing into his lower rib-cage. "Larry, come on!" Kate said, "Don't cause a scene".

"Well, that was a waste of time" Sarmoti said, with the three lions walking out from the precinct. "I told you that they wouldn't help. Even if they agreed, those bastards are just gonna twiddle their thumbs, hand out some paper flyers around town and call it 'Good Job!'" Sarmoti continued. "Well, dad...what do you suggest?" Kate asked in despair, her eyes wilting in despondence. The elderly lion stopped in his tracks, holding his chin and thinking to himself for a moment. "You may not like it Kate, but there are two possibilities she could have chosen: Either she did what many kids before her tried and join a Vegas act, or she's wiping a clean slate and pretending to be much older than she is" Sarmoti explained. "Considering she's running away from Vegas, the latter one is definitely the case. "Well, what do you mean by that?" Larry asked. "Well...being the young woman she is, and being we're in the only legal state, she probably ran off to join a brothel for all the cash she needed". "Dad!" Kate yelled, cringing internally at the thought. "Hey now, put yourself in her shoes; no skills, no support structure anymore, no education...and with how much those bimbos get paid!? Hell, I'd do it if I were her age!" Sarmoti argued. Kate covered half her face in her paw, looking off to the side and down flustered by the thought. "Okay, but...WHERE would she have gone for that?" Larry inquired.

Pausing for another moment, Sarmoti scratched his chin, looking to the sky trying to brainstorm. "Hmmm...since I doubt she wanted to stick around in Paradise, and considering she'd probably want to stay in smaller areas..."

"I'd say Elko...or some known town along I-80 where a lot of schmucks travel through" Sarmoti suggested, "After all, you know how many people just passing through the state take advantage of that?".

* * *

"_Now arriving at...Winnemucca...in:..Hum__boldt - County"_

The bus doors open with the automated announcement; the crowd shuffling out into the Nevada dusk sky light. The weather was cold, blowing up cold dust from the desert ground, peppering a somber white lioness as she is bumbled around in the crowd. "_There's...no going back now._.." she thought to herself. She took a look around the old settlement; what was left of the sun glimmering off the bend and warped metal roofs, old western-style cottages dotting the landscape, and uncontrolled weeds sprouting in their dead colors along the sidewalks. All around her seemed to be ran down; the people, the buildings, a husk of what it either was, or could have been.

She shuffled her way into an old diner, tossing what little she packed onto the bench she sat. "_I can do this_..." Sierra chanted to herself.

_"I can do this..."_

_"I can do this..."_

_"I can do this..."_

_"I can't...NO! I can!..."_

_"I can do this..."_

Her thoughts were interrupted by a sweat old lady, dawning a white apron over a pink uniform, "Can I get anything for you, hon?"

"Uh...espresso is fine"

"Sugar? Cream?"

"Sugar only"

As the waitress smiled, slowly pacing away as the lioness returned to her thoughts, propping her head up with both paws on her forehead. "_God...where am I gonna go?_". Her legs started pulsating up and down, anxiously dreading. "_I can't stay...they'll find me here_". Her thoughts welled up with horror; what her parents would do...what the police would do...was it a crime? Is she wanted? Sierra's eyes were sealed shut, trying to fight off her thoughts alone.

"Here you go, dear", the old waitress said, placing at cup onto the table in front of Sierra; the clashing ceramic and aroma snapping her back into reality. "Oh, thank you..." she softly uttered. She gently gripped each side of the cup, giving a slow blow over the top of the liquid, then taking a gentle sip. Her ears twitched, enjoying the delight; drawing her senses to the ambiance of the room, before her hearing decided to settle in on the TV station.

"_In other news, the Department of Homeland Security, along with cooperation from the Canadian Government, have negotiated an 'experimental' open-border checkpoint, located at Michigan's Upper Peninsula to Southern Ontario_". Sierra's head turned to the screen, ears still tucked back. "_The experiment is to see the feasibility of a more open border between the US and Canada. Anyone travelling between the checkpoints do not need any identification to cross, so long as they enter through a designated path. In response, Michigan Officials, with funding from the US Government, have begun express routes to send US citizens from Mackinaw to the St. Mary's River._"

"Mackinaw..." Sierra whispered to herself, "That's it!"


	3. Hookers, Sinkers, and Line

The cold night swept in, it's winds carrying with it the lightest blankets of snow; lightly sprinkling itself among the Vegas Strip. Kate looked up, softly exhaling as her breath shot visibly through the air. She tightened the black coat around her, closing her eyes as she then looked down, silently mouthing a prayer;

_"Lord...forgive my daughter_

_Of all sins; past and present_

_Guide her, protect her, Keep her safe from harm_

_Bring her back safely; from wherever she may roam_

_Should death come before penance, I pray to you her soul to take"_

With the final words through her head, she opened her eyes once more; gently sighing to the ground. The somber expression reflected off the window to her home, with her husband calling out, "Kate, you almost ready?". Looking back up to the direction it came from, "Yes" she replied. Taking a few short steps, she turned the corner to the house, walking up to an extravagantly dressed man. "Thank you so much for looking after Hunter, Siegfried" she said with a soft smile. "Da! It is no problem! I love the little kitties" he said in the thick German accent, gently patting the young lion's head between his ears. Kate chuckled, kneeling down to her concerned son. "Mama...is Sierra coming home?" he asked; eyes wider than an aperture. "Of course she is, it's just the grown ups have to be somewhere for a few days" she replied. "You'll see us with her when we come back...I promise", the mother spoke, hugging her son tightly goodbye. "I love you, mama" Hunter whispered tiredly. Kate gently kissed his head before letting go, smiling sweetly back, "I love you too, sweetie".

"Now, remember, it is a nice car, so TRY to be careful with her!" Roy pleaded to Larry, gently patting the hood of the car. "Geez, don't worry. When have I ever let you down?" Larry shrugged?

"Oh? The fire box incident?"

"Well, I uhh..." Larry replied

"The 'broken' lever?" Roy added

"Well, that was-"

"All the mirrors breaking backstage, giving us all a total of 196 years of bad luck!?"

"Hey! That wasn't even-"

"Listen, kitty, I love you! I love all of you. But I know you have a bit of a carelessness problem" Roy argued. "You don't think that maybe all the cat videos online knocking things off has some sort of, I don't know...Correlation!?" he yelled further.

"Relax, Roy. I trust them" Siegfried intervened, trying to calm his partner down. "Really? Right now, Siegfried?" Roy scoffed, crossing his arms and looking away. "Ja! Now, let them go and enjoy their vacation" Siegfried continued, waving at the family. "You have a good time, ja?".

Larry chuckled, falling into the driver's seat. Pressing in the clutch, he fired up the engine and put the car in first gear. "Thanks guys" he chuckled, transitioning off the clutch and onto the throttle to drive away.

The sun remained down, the group heading north among a barren desert. Kate rested her arm on door's ledge, propping her head off as a depressed expression stamped her face; watching the silhouettes of mountains gently stroll by the moonlight. "Dad...are you absolutely sure she's going to be there?" she gently asked. Sarmoti stretched his arms out in the back seat; pinning them being the left and right headrests. "Positive. Maybe not in a brothel but she's GOT to be somewhere on I-80. Although I suspect she's already made plans to get into one".

"But what if she isn't the-"

"I'm certain!" he reasserted. "Where else could she have gone? We're flanked on both sides with tall mountain ranges and there is absolutely nothing south until an armed Mexican border! And God forbid, I know for a fact she isn't dumb enough to head to Reno or Carson City" he grumbled.

Kate sighed heavily, her gaze returning the silhouette mountains. "I just hope she's safe somewhere".

* * *

The desert sun peaked just over the eastern horizon; it's bright rays contrast the little heat it gave off, serving nothing but to blind the unsuspecting. Sierra tried her best to walk back into the sun along the interstate, trying to give a thumbs up to passing semi-trucks. With each passing truck, sand would blast her fur; the fine grains acting as shattered glass. She'd wince tightly, body tensed at the unavoidable assault; spearing into her eyes and nose. "Shit..." she painfully whimpered, trying to continue along the road. The nearest civilization at this point was well over a day away on foot.

"_It's temporary...you'll rest soon_" Sierra tried to justify to herself.

_"You have water...food isn't important..."_

_"Who needs food...like steak..."_

_"mmmm...steak- WAIT"_

_"No no no...you aren't that girl anymore!"_

_"Well...if I have to..."_

_"No! I can't! It's only in emergencies..."_

_"This isn't an emergency...is it? I can still walk"_

Her thoughts were interrupted by a speeding semi on the right; the sheer turbulence pushed the lioness forward and face-planted into the harsh, course dirt below.

She groaned in defeat, fists slowly clenching in rage before letting go, carefully getting herself back off and trying her best to get the sand out of her fur. "_Bastard_...".

Before she could continue, the sound of a roaring diesel engine approached; downshifting gradually and pulling off to the side of the road. Sierra's attention turned to the trucker hopping out; in tattered and ragged flannel and denim. "Shit, I saw that...man, y'all got peppered! Y'all'd've been smoked further f'ain't for me" the trucker sympathetically said in his incredibly thick, nasal southern accent. "Y'all ok?" he asked, helping dust off her arm and shoulder. "Yea...I'm fine" Sierra responded, grabbing her bag off the ground. The trucker tossed his cigarette out, stomping on it before returning his gaze to her with a puzzled look, "Say...what's a purty girl like you doin' out here anyways?". "I'm hitch hiking to Michigan" she responded softly, "You don't mind...giving me a lift right?" she asked, trying to use her described 'purty face' to good use. "Shit, man, I'd love to...but I'm scheduled to get to Grand Junction" he replied. "Oh...too bad" she responded, trying to keep up the beautiful damsel in distress facade. "Hey, uh..listen. I mean...I can get y'all to Salt Lake City, but that's the best I can do" he offered. Sierra kept up the charm, smiling sweetly and gently kissing the trucker's cheek, "Thanks...it means a lot". The trucker tipped his hat, running back around to the other side, "C'mon, hop in the cab".

The air brakes whined off before huffing, the trucker pushing the long stick into first as he depressed the clutch, transitioning off and onto the throttle and the big rig straddled off the shoulder and back onto the road. Sierra settled down inside, staring in awe at the insane amount of gauges and dials, "Whoa...how do you keep track of all this?...". "Hm?...Oh, uh I hardly look at half of them. Just dial readings for literally everything. You got your typical stuff like water pressure and oil temp, then some stuff you don't usually need to worry about like tranny temps, diff. pressure, boost pressure" he shrugged off. "Also tells me what my load is like" he continued. "So...what are you hauling?" she asked curiously. "Machinery...mostly parts for construction vehicles. Nothing special, really".

Sierra looked down at the empty seat beside her, lifting up an old torn up jack it to see some sort of glass bulb, "Hey...is this a..." she trailed off before being cut off. "Shit! Sorry 'bout that" he said, grabbing it swiftly. "Oh no no...I'm cool with that stuff...just uh...mind if I use it?". The trucker laughed, looking over at her, "A girl like you doin...ah hell, I shouldn't even question it. You were hitch hiking just a minute ago. But uh..yea I don't mind you hot boxing. What do you smoke?" he inquired. "Nip, mostly...You know us felines" she joked, pulling out a small plastic back, packing some of it into the bowl before lighting up. With a long huff, she held her breath before coughing up some smoke, sighing in ecstasy before relaxing into the seat.

"Say...why ARE you goin' to Michigan anyways? Why hitchhike? It's dangerous for someone like you" the trucker asked. "Oh...uhh..." Sierra stammered, "It's...I had an abusive boyfriend" she lied, "And he had pretty much been stalking me. With everything going on...I just needed to start fresh". He huffed, taking off his hat and wiping his forehead with it, "Man...God bless your soul" he sighed. "My daddy was the same way with my mama...I hate hearing that happen...these boys need to find Christ and pray for redemption, but..." he trailed off, looking at the lioness, "I'm proud of you. God's gonna keep y'all strong and I'mma pray for ya sweetheart". With his gaze returning, Sierra tucked her ears flat, looking down in shame.

"_Cutthroat...I need to be cutthroat!_" her mind insisted, as she took another hit from the bong. "_It doesn't matter...I'm doing just fine! Sarmoti is an idiot for doubting me_".

"_He misses me.._." she lamented, taking another hit.

"_No...they were gonna kill me!"_

_"I saved my life doing this...I shouldn't have even left a note!"_

_"Note...heh...what a funny word...like uh...float"_

"_Heh...am I floating?_" she pondered, her mind now slipping into the drug; her surroundings starting to morph and distort, colors changing as her body levitated off the seat. The cab slowly unfolded; revealing a rainbow sky with her above the heavens.

"_I'm so weightless_" her mind continued.

"_Man, I really want.._."

She looks to her tail; seeming to have a mind of it's own. Sierra tried cocking her head at it, which the tip merely followed; as if it were studying her intently. "_H-Hey_..." she laughed, trying to reach out for it. Before her eyes it broke free from her body, slithering like a snake with half of it standing up and poised.

"_Heh...wh-whaaat?_" she continued to laugh, pupils growing and vision blurring. Her faint outlines began to fuzz, with the tail disappearing between her legs. She gave a light shrieked, eyes shot open. "_N-no...y-you cant go in back there!_" she said in a wobbly voice, grabbing the severed end and pulling on it.

"**_BUT IT FEELS NICE_**" a strange erotic voice called. "_N-Nah...it...yea...it does..._" she purred, letting go of the tail and letting it disappear. "_It's all so nice._.."

"_**WAIT**_" a second, serious voice emerged. "_Huh?...Is that me?_"

"_**YES!**_"

"_N-no..._"

"_**DON'T LISTEN TO YOURSELF!**_"

"_Huh?._.." she questioned in a drowsy stupor. "_Way-..Wait.._." she said, looking at the bong, the glass melting into gel in her hands. "_Is...is this nip?_" she pondered. "_Nahhh I don't c-cay..errrr_" she shrugged, inhaling the fumes from the smoldering bits left.

"_**THERE'S SOMETHING IN HERE**_"

"_How could there be?._."

"**_YOU ARE NOT SAFE"_**

"_M-mom?.._."

"_**DO YOU WANT YOUR FATHER INVOLVED?**_"

"_Oh FUCK OFF w-with that best interest cr-...heh...I almost said crap_"

"_**SWEETHEART...PLEASE**_"

"_I d-don't need you anymore..._"

"_**ANGEL DUST!**_"

"_H-huh?"_

"_**ANGEL DUST!**_"

"_You don't l-love me Kaaaay...aaate..._"

"**_GET OUT OF THERE. RUN!"_**

"_F__uck you, I won't do what you tell me...hehehe!_"

"**_I JUST LIKE TO HOLD MY BEER WITH ONE FINGER - SHUT UP LARRY!_**"

"_Wait...who am I.._." Sierra's final thoughts muttered, the world slowly dimming; what ever matter was left was sucked up by a black ball of fire. "**_Won't you...cum for me.._.**" her eyes had shut, all sensation of feeling was ripped away from her body; the world collapsed around her.

There was nothing more left than the absolute void.

* * *

"I...can't believe we're going to do this..." Kate droned, staring up at the saloon-style building's sign.

_The Desert Rose Gentlemen's Club_

"Well, where do YOU suppose we start at first?" Sarmoti asked, "Don't worry, leave the talking to the professionals" he elbowed, starting to walk in. "No, Kate's right...I'm not too comfortable about this" Larry said, scratching the back of his head while giving his wife a flustered glare. "Oh? -Oh I'm sorry. Is Ram Ranch more your style?" Sarmoti sarcastically questioned, pushing the door open. The couple nervously shrugged at each other, following him inside. "Remember...it's for Sierra" Kate whispered quietly, though stopping at the sight in ill-prepared shock.

What greeted them was a mixture of women; roughly half in their early twenties and plausibly barely legal, but the rest in their late 30's and 40's, with the majority of the customers being the stereotypical trucker or elder men close to Sarmoti's age. The aroma in the air was an unpleasant scent of what seemed to be hay, latex, cheap and burned cigars and cat nip smoke, along with the background punch of a mixture of bodily fluids. Sarmoti sighed, feeling the two had stopped dead in their tracks. "Listen" he said, turning around to face them. "Big culture shock, I get it...but try to not look out of place!". Kate facepawed, sighing audibly in embarrassment, "Honestly...I hope we never find her here". "Careful what you wish for, sweetheart" Sarmoti snapped back, looking around intently. "It's too crowded...SO, here's the plan" he whispered. "You two are gonna scour the main floor. I'm going to head to the back rooms to see if she's in business there". Larry shrugged while looking at his wife, "Better him than me". Sarmoti grinned, turning around to find a leopard courtesan walking by. Without any restraint, he let forth his hand; slapping the woman's rear in an audible crack. The leopard gasped, letting loose a brief shriek of surprise before turning around in disgust at Sarmoti. "Hey, my friend Benjamin says you owe me twenty minutes in the back" he demanded, slipping a hundred dollar bill over. In a huff, the prostitute looked at the money, swiping it out of his hand and motioned the lion to follow her with the least enthusiastic expression possible. With Sarmoti's silent cackling, he turned back to look at the two other lions, "Go on, now! I don't have long!".

Kate shook her head, looking down at the floor to what she just bared witness. "Your dad is a real piece of work, you know that?" Larry sarcastically said. Kate just looked up into his eyes, unamused to his words, "You know what, Larry...you're absolutely right! He truly is!". Kate held her hands to her chest, clenching her paw and holding it with the other, "God, I hope Sierra didn't have aspirations of being a concubine". Larry looked around the room, trying to see any nook or crannies they could check, "I doubt she's here...I think your father just wanted an excuse to drop by" he murmured. "Well...I don't think it's entirely that. I mean, all things considered, we-" Kate explained, before being promptly cut off by a middle-aged man gripping her shoulders harshly from behind. "H-hey bitch..." he struggled to get out in an intoxicated stupor, Kate wincing at the fowl odor. "Why don't you..." he tried to continue before Kate roughly shoved the man off. "Excuse you, I don't work here!" she retorted, fists clenched, legs stance, and prepared to fight, growling through her teeth. The man stumbled back to his feet, looking half awake into the lioness's eyes. "Oh..." the man trailed off, before his eyes shot open into dead space, returning his gaze back to Kate, "OHHHH..." he trailed off again in a false realization. Kate stood firm, her enraged face hinted at confusion, before she twitched back, realizing what the man had concluded. "Oh...God..." she moaned, face burning red as she held her forehead. Larry grabbed her arm, trying to pull her back from the situation, "Look...you aren't gonna see him a-". But he was shut off by Kate grabbing his wrist, pulling him roughly towards the door. "I just want to get out of here!" Kate vented.

Outside, Kate pinched the small bit of fur in the middle of her forward, trying her best to keep her breathing under control. "Kate...really it's...I mean, I can deal with him if you want" Larry said, holding his hand out tenderly to carefully approach the distraught lioness. "No...it's not him" she softly replied. "We came all the way out here and...well, I'm praying Sarmoti was wrong about her being involved in this...but I just hope we can find something here...".

"Do you trust him?" Larry asked.

"I do...he's not as senile as you think...I want to believe so, anyways"

"Then I don't see the problem. I mean, where else could she have-"

"I don't know!" Kate snapped, eyes watering from the exchange. "I'm a failed mother..."

"You are not! You raised two children just fine. Sierra had always loved us"

"IF SHE DID- " Kate tried to cry out, with Larry quickly covering her mouth to keep as little attention as possible. "If she did...she wouldn't have left" she tried to continue in a calmer, yet stammered voice. She couldn't help but to weep again, pressing her face into her husband's shoulder to hide it. "The drugs...the late nights...the failing grades..." she tried to utter in Larry's shoulder between the soft chokes. "Does that sound like I did a good job?".

"It's not uncommon for teens to try it" Larry whispered, trying to comfort her, carefully moving the two to the building's side porch.

A few moments of soft whimpering continued, Larry wiping away a rogue tear of his own from the moments he shared with his daughter as she grew up. Kate's head gently peaked up, eyes running with her face in grief, begging for answers. "Why?...I-I'm not ready to lose her, Larry...I'd do anything to have her back...". Larry quickly held her face back into him, tucking his face into his elbow, unable to hold back any more than she could.

Drawing in a heavy breath, the hefty lion lifted his head back up, "Hey..." he softly murmured, peaking the attention of a still distraught Kate. "Remember...remember Sierra's 4th birthday?...How she just face-planted into that cake?". Kate paused a moment, her tears and chokes being interrupted with a couple of chuckles. "Y-yea...". "Or...how embarrassed she started getting in middle school?...You kissed her cheek when we first dropped her off in 6th grade...i-in front of her classmates?" Larry continued. Kate shivered, the tears gradually slowing down as laughter started to take over. "Or...when she learned to walk? She tried mimicking you when you had that bad knee?" Kate contributed, the scene vividly playing out in their minds. "I'll never forget...when we first came back from the hospital when Hunter was born...Sierra held him in her arms...you and me sat on either side of them?" Larry added back. The scene in their minds seemed like old VHS footage, so surreal that they could reach in to touch themselves. The somber glaring turned into nostalgic chuckling. Larry reached down to kiss his wife, healing the pain with the shared empathy they had for each other. By the end of it, Larry spoke in a stern voice, "We're GOING to find her...I promise". His left paw held Kate's, the larger domineering size completely wrapping around her smaller one, his thumb gently dusting the ring finger. "I love you" she whispered back, falling into the lion's embrace once more.

Sarmoti eventually caught up to the couple outside. "Ugh, so much for a hooker. They don't make em' like they did in the 80's". Kate rolled her eyes in disgust, turning towards her father. "Sierra! Was she back there or not?" she barked. "No...BUT, good news! That pussy was tellin' me about how the cops here have all the free time in the world. They'd probably help us out". Kate's face turned into a scolded rage, "You mean to tell ME that this whole time, we could have just gone to the local precinct instead of wasting all of our god damn time here!?". Before Sarmoti could respond, a scantily-clad white tiger strolled out the saloon door. The courtesan rubbed up close to Kate, speaking in the obviously facade act, "Hey...the gentleman inside told me about you. If you're feeling lonely-". "Oh for God's sake!" Kate interrupted, stomping off in annoyance whilst staring back at the two male lions, "Come on, we're going!". Sarmoti couldn't help but laugh, following her daughter and son-in-law out to the road. "Oh, pumpkin! I see you aren't a fan those 'empowered' women, huh?".

* * *

"_**Wake up...**_"

"_**Wake up Sierra...**_'

"_H-huh...whaa?..._" Sierra uttered, opening her eyes to a void.

"_**You're not done here yet**_" a voice called out.

The air crackled to life; Sierra floating in dead space as she looked up to see an old bearded man among the clouds, locked behind white and gold gates. An equally large lioness stood beside her with disappointment. "_M-mom?_..." Sierra gently called out, having lost all energy in her voice. "_**YOU WERE NEVER WELCOMED HERE ANYWAYS**__**!**_" Kate yelled in an echo, loading her hand back before slapping the minuscule sized daughter backwards. Sierra screamed in terror, unable to move her body or change course. The fire under her grew larger, feeling it burn away at her fur, her eyes tearing up as an elder lion laughed in malevolence. "**_You gotta be cut throat kid! That's how ya win the game!_**". Sierra snapped back in reality, the wind knocked out as she struggled to breathe, clutching her heart as she hyperventilated.

"Good God!" the trucker said in concerned. "Are you alright, ma'am!?". Sierra wiped her face off, taking in a long deep breath, before trembling out a response, "Yea...". She looked outside; seeing an empty black sky eerily missing all of it's stars. "Where...where am I?" she asked, in a groggy tone. "We're just entering Salt Lake...you were out for the past 10 hours" the trucker replied. Sierra's senses slowly came back to her, patting herself around. "_Wait.._." she thought to herself.

_"My shorts...feel funny...it's wet..._" she thought.

"_They're...twisted...why does it..._" she continued.

"_N-no...No, it's the nip...I'm sure it_" she justified.

"Listen...thank you so much for doing this...I think I'm gonna hop out" she drowsily told the trucker. Without a reply, he pulled off to the side of the road, parking it. "Well...good luck on your journey, miss" he said, climbing out of the cab and running to the other side. "You sure you're gonna be good?" he asked in concern. "Yea...I'll be-" she tried to answer, basically falling out the side and into the man's arms.

"Uh...huh. You know, you're always welcome to stay with-"

"No no, it's fine!" she quickly replied. "I don't want to hold you up any further".

With a tip of his cap and smile, he walked backwards in front of his truck. "God bless, Sierra" he winked, hopping back. "_Sierra._.." she thought. "_How did he know my...?_" she trailed off, only to be interrupted by the diesel engine roaring.

She sighed heavily, looking up to the sky. "Salt Lake City...I'm getting closer" she declared to the heavens.


	4. An Uncivilized Society

Sierra frantically scrambled through her bag, taking shelter behind an abandoned building. "No No No No..." she whispered to herself, making sure everything was still in her bag. "_Nothing's moved...okay.._." she thought to herself. "He couldn't have known!" she whispered again.

"_I was out for 10 hours?...but I thought the ride was supposed to be closer to 4..."_

The face of pure anxiety filled her up, patting herself down to look or feel for any marks. "_God, I could I be so stupid!_" she teared up. There didn't appear to be any visible marks or scratches. She felt down her hips, looking for any sign of streaks, but the only areas that felt sticky between her thighs. Her tail curled around her leg tightly, constricting it like a snake. Her paws pressed hard into her cheeks, covering her mouth embarrassed.

_"He took a nap...yea, that's it..."_

_"But, that could only be 3 hours at most..."_

_"He could have also ate...you can't really do that while driving, right?"_

_"A weigh station?"_

_"This didn't happen...this didn't happen..."_

Sierra's tail loosened, though leaving behind the same peculiar sensation. "_It's...my leg is...no, my tail is_" she thought, reaching to feel the tip of it. The typically fluffy end was no more than a slightly puffed rod.

"_Yes...so this must be the answer!...right?_"

_"I have to go to the Pol-"_

_"NO! THEY'LL SEND YOU BACK"_

"I can't go back..." Sierra whimpered, shaking in the bitter cold. Her head shook violently, trying to clear it. "_Don't think about it...Don't think...Don't think...focus on Mackinaw_" she chanted internally. "_Mom.._." she thought to herself, "_I'm scared.._."

_"She'd make it worse"_

_"Would she?"_

_"YES! SHE WOULD!"_

Trembling, she slowly stood back up, grabbing her bag and looking for the nearest bus depot. She gripped her stomach, feeling a hole drilling its way inside. "So hungry..." she stammered stopping in her tracks. Reaching into her bag, she fiddled around a smaller hidden pocket, pulling out some crumpled bills. "10 dollars" she groaned. She sniffed around, trying to pick up a scent. What filled her nose was only cheap pork and steak, mixed in with cigarette smoke. Frantically looking around, she found a truck-stop diner. "Oh, what luck!" she said in bitterness, "_I suppose...it is an emergency_".

Walking through the door, the only thing playing was an old AM radio. The music was melancholic, with the establishment more claustrophobic than a broom closet. The interior was were water stained, paint cracking, and pipes exposed above her head. It seemed more appropriate for an abandoned small town. Sierra carefully sat herself down on the bar stool, looking up at the cracked and half-dim menu. "Can I get you anything?" an unenthusiastic voice called from behind a port window. Sierra's ears tucked, biting her lower lip, fists clenching each other. "_I...I don't have a choice_" she lamented. "Uhh...r-rib-eye..." she muttered softly. "12 Ounces...blue-rare please". The butcher shrugged it off, returning back to the cutting floor.

The door alarm rang out, Sierra turning her head to see a relative obese woman, roughly in her sixties plop down next to her, shuffling through her purse to pull out a cigarette. Her breathing was heavy, throwing her foul breath everywhere; enough to make Sierra gag. "Give me a 16 ounce cut. I need it quickly, I'm pretty behind on taking this load east". "_East..._" Sierra thought to herself.

"_NO! Remember what happened last time!?_" her head cried.

_"But I don't know that for sure..."_

_"Would you rather be safe or sorry!?"_

_"She's an old lady, she wouldn't do that!"_

_"Does she look like an upstanding citizen?"_

_"I'm sure she earns her money honestly!"_

Sierra eventually worked up the nerve to speak, in a silent whimper, "Hey...uh...w-where exactly are you heading? I need to get to Michigan". The old woman blew out a white puff, staring back at her. The thick shades blocking her eyes giving a heartless look, "Runaway, huh?". Sierra gasped, "NO!" she twitched in defense. The driver looked intensely at her, then shrugging off, "Cleveland. I guess I can take you along". The old woman took the cigarette out of her mouth, crushing it in an ash tray before looking over at the lioness again. "Enjoy your looks now. I used to be as pretty as you" she coughed, some of her phlegm landing on a cringing Sierra. "_Yea...I bet you did.._." she thought in disgust.

The barely cooked raw meat was clapped down on the plate in front of Sierra, with a greasy hand extending out. Sierra huffed, handing over the crumpled bills while staring down at the meat; her stomach growling ferociously. The woman next to her received her order too, taking no time to start cutting it, eating relatively swiftly. "Hey...ain't you hungry? That thing isn't coming alive if that's what you're worried about" she said sarcastically. "_I have to do this...it's just once, it can't hurt_". With a dry gulp, she picked up the piece with her bare hands, nibbling a small bit off. Her pupils enlarged to the size of her eyes, the iron taste ecstasy to her starving tongue. Without hesitation, she took a larger chunk out, then more, and more. Before she realized it, all that was left were a red-stained paw and fur. She stared intently at the stain, clenching her fists tightly, "_I'm sorry, poor cow.._.". The old woman scoffed at the sight, "Guess I was wrong about you". Sierra gritted her teeth, shaking a bit in her chair, "_I didn't have a choice!_" her mind screamed.

When the woman finished, she stood up, tossing a twenty dollar bill in front of her. "A'ight darlin', lets get goin'" she said in a mundane voice. "I'm already behind and I shouldn't be bringing you anyways". Sierra nodded, holding the door open for her, "Thank you..." she murmured. The woman stopped again, lighting another cigarette, then pulling out a second in a bored expression, holding it up to Sierra. The feline shook her head, "N-No thanks...".

"Whelp, I don't have a lot of rules, just...be quiet and don't distract me. I'm not a talkative type" she warned, opening the cab door. "Just take a cat nap or somethin'...we'll be there soon enough".

* * *

"Well, ma'am, we've contacted a few other departments across I-80. There wasn't much our algorithm could find" the officer shrugged, taking a sip of coffee. "Twenty-seven instances doesn't sound so bad...but this is out of millions". "I don't care!" Kate shouted angrily, "Just let me see them!".

The officer flipped on the monitor, turning the screen towards the three lions awaiting anxiously. "Think the first few ones were from Battle Mountain, Lovelock...those areas, ya know?" he calmly said, taking another sip. The first clip was grainy; show what looked to be an older and heftier lioness walking long a city square. The next looked to be around Sierra's age, but definitely was no lioness sitting at a bar. A third was an obvious human. Silently clicking through, they saw more and more false-positives, crippling their hopes the further they went.

"Hey...go back one" Sarmoti asked, eyes squinting at the screen. The footage was grainy, but it appeared to be an old diner with a young lioness sitting on a bench. "Crystal blue eyes...black collar...raised h-" Sarmoti murmured, Kate gasping and covering her mouth. Her eyes welled up with joy, "That's her..." she trailed off. "Where was this taken!?" she barked, the officer immediately scrolling through the metadata. "Looks to be...East Winnemucca. Roughly 30 hours ago".

"Dammit!" Sarmoti grimaced, walking to a corner of the small room. "Wh-what is it?" Kate asked. "Isn't it good that we found her?". "Well, sure, of course it is. But that was such a long time ago. You know where she could have gone in 30 hours? She probably left the state by now!" he said in frustration. Larry placed both his paws on the desk, leaning in, "Can you trace where she went in that time span?" he asked sternly.

"Doing it now..." he said lethargically, typing away towards a second monitor. "It...appears this woman hitchhiked Eastbound, along I-80" he answered, looking back up. "_She came this way?_" Kate thought to herself. "Salt Lake..." Sarmoti said verbally. "That's probably where she was headin'".

"But..what is there in Salt Lake City?" Kate asked, holding her head. "Mormons!" he rebutted. "Probably wanted to be some whacko-millionaire's 7th wife or something". Kate's attention returned to the officer, "Can't you call in to ask if-".

"I mean...it's a completely separate state at that point. Their procedures are different and it's a massive city compared to what we checked. It'd take weeks to comb through and-"

"So you're just going to do nothing!?"

"Ma'am...I mean, I hate to be the one to tell you this, but these missing-person cases rarely ever get solved, especially runaways".

"But-"

"Plus, it'd be a 5 hour trek at most if she caught a ride. If we're talking 30 hours, then...she could be anywhere in the mid-west. We just don't have the resources"

The optimism slowly drained out of her face, gripping her wrist and looking down, "I...I understand".

The three walked out of the precinct, Sarmoti lighting a cigar to take a long inhale. "I'm sorry sweetheart, I'll comfort you the ride home if-". Kate immediately cut him off, "WHAT!? You're not even going to try looking in-"

"LISTEN" Sarmoti yelled, gripping her shoulders, looking dead in the eyes. "I want her back too. I love my granddaughter. But...he's right. She could be anywhere" he said, voice getting softer with a grimace, "We don't have a chance at finding her". Kate's face shriveled up in dejection, a wave of depression flushed across her face. "I'm sorry, Kate...I don't-". "I know...she's gone...".

Sarmoti hugged his daughter tight, gently stroking the back of her head. At this point, Kate had no nothing more to flow from her eyes, just an empty husk of what used to be a loving mother.

* * *

A new dawn rose up, the bright rays cracking into the truck's cab. Sierra cracked her eyes open, shielding the sun with her paw. The truck continued in it's low hum, bouncing and vibrating along. "W-Where are you?" she asked tiredly.

"Omaha...we're making a stop".

"A...oh...what for?"

"There's something I have to do..." she trailed off.

Not long after, the fat woman pulled off an exit on the outskirts of the city, near an old rail yard. The hazard lights flick on, it's soft ticking vibrating off the walls and into the feline's ears. "How long will it take?" Sierra ask, admiring the old rails on the stone mounds. Her question was met with the doors locking, Sierra getting a puzzled face trying to pull up on them. "Hey, if you needed to do something, why did you-".

Her sentence with met with the sound of multiple springs compressing, the deep locking sounds of metal echoed in the cab. Sierra's fur stood straight up, her ears pinned and face of sheer terror. The sound was unmistakable.

Slowly turning around, too afraid to confirm her suspicion, she trembled out a horrid but nearly inaudible shriek as she looked down the barrel of a .45 ACP. "W-why?..." she cried softly, petrified at the brandished firearm. "I don't know about you...but I don't recall saying it was a free ride" the woman replied, her face stern and emotionless like her voice. "All you runaways think you can just climb on in, go wherever you'd like, and think it's no big problem" she continued.

"B-buuuuuh..." she trailed off, trying to finish her sentence. Her paws instinctively reached in the air on either side of her head, open-palmed as her eyes fixated on the barrel. "I-I don't have anything...I spent it all at the restaurant...".

"That bag looks like it has some valuables in it" she said, pointing the gun briefly at it.

"N-no! You can't...I-Its...Its all I have left!"

"The bag, now" the woman rebutted, her thumb rubbing the hammer. "Just be glad I'm not like the others. Some will beat you senselessly, others would just kill ya unsuspectingly. Some even molesting you while you slept". Sierra's jaw hung agape at the last sentence, quivering her breath as she remember the first hitch hike ride. "N-no..." she barely managed to even whisper. "S-surely we could work this out" she pleaded, starting to sob in fear. "D-don't kill me...".

"Just hand over the bag, sugar" she demanded, keeping the apathetic tone going. "I suggest you make your mind up quickly, or you'll find out whether or not this gun is loaded".

"C-can't i just grab s-some-"

"ALL of it" she warned, pointing the gun to the floor, firing a warning shot. There was no collateral ring, but it was enough to make Sierra scream in terror; curling in a ball and pressing back against the door and kicking the bag over, "ALRIGHT, HAVE IT!" she frantically yelled. "JUST LET ME OUT OF HERE!". Without hesitation, the woman reached for a button, unlocking the door. "Good luck out there" she said sarcastically.

Sierra tumbled out the door, running full speed away into the train yard, out of breath from the ordeal as she choked up on herself again. "THAT BITCH!" she cried to herself. "W-..W-whyyyy..." she moaned, coming to her knees as she buried her face in her hands. When she managed to calm herself somewhat, she looked down at her legs; her thighs and calves were covered in thin red lines from the fall into the sharp brush, her knees burned and scraped from the collapse on the stone rock mound. Her body still had sand from out west; staining it brown with patches of scuffed fur from it being blasted into her.

_"I'm...I'm breaking apart..."_

_"You already made it this far! You can't quit!"_

_"Maybe if I just-"_

_"You can't go back"_

_"I was robbed..."_

_"Your mother will do the same next time she sees you!"_

Sierra bent over onto the ground, throwing up in fear as her body trembled. "I just want the police...someone" she shivered to herself. Her hacking made it difficult to breath, her rib-cage violently contracting as the hole in her stomach returned.

_"They'll arrest you, it's too late"_

"Why are there so many terrible people..." she whined, stumbling to her feet. She stumbled over to an empty rail car. The steel was unforgivably hot as she climbed aboard, crawling to a dark and empty corner where she curled up into a fetal position. "If...anyone finds me...that's it...I don't care" she she whispered aloud. "I just want to go home...".


	5. Sobriety

"Chriiiiis...What's taking so long?" a slurred voiced called. "Damn, this stuff is heavy" Sierra thought, coughing up a fair bit of smoke from the bong. She was lying prone, completely naked with her wrists and ankles tied down with not much room, though she didn't seem to mind. Her limbs gently tugged at the restraints, giggling softly in intoxicated bliss. She stuffed more nip into the bowl, using her lighter to set it aflame as she took another hit. "Come ooon, don't keep me waiting!" she called out, purring with her tail whipping back to forth in ecstasy. "A-Alright, Alright" an equally stoned cougar called out, wobbling through the door frame. Sierra looked over her shoulder, a seductive smile plastering her face, ears twitch to the loud rock music covering their activity. The cougar shuffled himself forward, "You know, I'm glad you decided to-" he uttered. His voice was quickly cut off by the sound of a gunshot, the music instantly cutting to an eerie silence as the cougar fell dead to the floor.

"All for you..." a voice gently called out. Sierra's face hardly changed, more in a state of confusion and not registering what just happened. Kate slowly stepped through the doorway, also without clothing while holding a smoking revolver. Her seductive smile lit up the room, seeming tender at first, "You should have mentioned you were a bad girl, sweetheart" she gently uttered. She tossed the firearm aside, resting back into the frame with her arms crossed, "I would have gotten to business sooner" she continued, blowing a silent kiss over. Sierra felt the restraints tighten, pulling harder on her limbs. Her high was wearing off quick, realizing how trapped she was. The ropes that held her were so tight that blood flow started to be cut off, her voice nothing more than panicking exhales as she tried to fight for control in vain. Kate's face twisted to a more sinister smile, walking slowly to the side of the bed. She carefully climbed on top, her knees digging into the mattress at her daughter's narrowest curves. She gently sat just above her tail; strongly gripping her shoulders as she looked down in anger, meeting the face of a desperate lioness trying to escape. "**_YOU ARE GOING TO PAY THE PRICE_**" she screamed.

"NO! PLEASE!" Sierra panicked,

"_**YOU ABANDONED YOUR BROTHER TO DIE!**_"

"NO, I DIDN'T MEAN TO!"

"_**YOU ABANDONED YOUR GRANDFATHER ON HIS DEATH BED**_"

"I'M SORRY!"

"_**YOU ABANDONED YOUR INJURED FATHER!**_"

Sierra's cries turned into hopeless whimpering, see her mother swipe the lighter from out of her paw. "**_YOU...LEFT...ME!_**" she screamed with conviction, her voice more demonic than real. She flipped the metal cap off the lighter, struck the flame, then dropped it onto the bed. Within an instant, the entire room had turned into an inferno, Kate maniacally laughing at her daughter's pain. Until suddenly, the heat was replaced with biting cold, the soft bed into hard metal, and Sierra's eyes shooting open as she drew a sharp breath of terror. It was over; she had woken up.

* * *

She slowly sat herself up, holding the sides of her head, trying to compose herself from the nightmare. The outside was cold and wet; a layer of frost had begun to fill as the much smaller train yard was brightly illuminated from the full moon. Sierra's breath was visible, shooting out well into the cold floor. She looked around, seeing all. "_Where did I wake up in._.." she thought so herself.

Suddenly, a flashlight caught the corner of her eye. The light darted across the metal cars, with a voice calling in the distance. "Hello?" it called out, looking for someone. She peered out the door, seeing a man in dark clothing and hat. "Kalamazoo Police Department" he called again. "Oh shit!" she whispered, instantly hiding back into the car. It was too late; the light had beamed inside, peering around to look for any sign of life. "Hello? You're not in trouble, I just want to talk" the officer called again. Sierra didn't bother sticking around, bolting off as she landed on the muddied ground below, sprint off at full speed. "HEY!" the officer cried. The slick mud felt like ice crystals on her paws, trying to make distance between her and her pursuer.

"Dispatch, be advised of a 10-31 of an unidentified suspect, taking off North" he radioed in, trying to draw in breath as in the effort to keep up. Sierra darted into the thicker woods, looking frantically for a place to hide before diving into a bush. Her heart rate skyrocketed, hearing the officer's footsteps grow closer. His face was visible, coming incredibly close to her before coming to a dead stop, looking around to see where she might have gone. She held her breath, trying to be as silent as a church mouse. The officer soon broke off, darting into the dark, his footsteps growing quieter and quieter as the lioness exhaled a sigh of relief.

She continued to trek north, hoping to find some sort of civilization from the cold night. Her shivering caught back up with her as the cold took effect, freezing her quick. Her paws were becoming numb from mild frostbite, occasionally stopping to rub them together to try and keep warm. Her progress was quickly halted by rustling leaves, seeing something out of the corner of her eye.

"H-hello?" she called out, trying not to let fear penetrate her. There was an eerie silence, before she heard more rustling behind her. She quickly turned around, ears pinning down, before hearing footsteps run towards her. To her horror as she turn and ran were a coyote and weasel, both armed with blunt weapons as they took off after her. Sierra's breath began to panic, losing traction as she tried to navigate the slick earth. "Come 'er pussy, I got a use for you!" one of them called out mockingly.

The lioness eventually lost her balance; her ankle hyper-extending as she cried in pain, falling off a small ledge to tumble down before being knocked cold from her head colliding with a boulder below.

* * *

Her consciousness arose to the sound of heavy breathing, feeling herself restrained at the wrists and ankles as before. Only this time, heavy chains lightly pinched her skin. Her back and head were against some sort of wooden surface; the entire area was pitch black. She heard soft footsteps grow closer, the area in front of her warming , feeling her bare chest be pressed into by something soft and furry. Her face heated up, eyes wide before feeling her lips pressed, being kissed tenderly by someone. The sensation seemed to draw any manifestation of anxiety out from her; causing Sierra to relax. Her eyes drifted close, enjoying the feeling as her hips were held by caring paws. She kissed back, purring softly in delight, her tail swishing happily below her as the embrace soothed her. Only then was the room starting to light at all. She opened her eyes as the kiss ceased with a wet smack, another nude lioness backing slowly revealing herself to be the comforter. "M-mom?..." Sierra gently whispered in confusion, out of energy. Kate's face looked sweet, almost in mercy as she reached over to grab a lever. As she touched it, her face turned into a more smug and vengeful type, speaking with the cheeriest voice, "Just wanted to remind you that this is all your fault!" she taunted with a wink as she violent pulled down the lever. Sierra screamed in pain, the chains pulling her in every direction, trying to resist as her joints began to pop. Her voice was ear-piercing, begging in agony for clemency.

"MAKE IT STOP!" she begged to a still smiling, sadistic mother. Every fiber of Sierra's being seemed to be ripped away. Finally, her body was quartered, all sense of vision being blacked out at the very moment her limbs severed. The nightmare was over.

* * *

Sierra slowly woke up from the coma, feeling her arms gripped vigorously and tugged at on either side, her paws dragging along the muddied ground; completely at the mercy of the two captors. "Hey...Hey..." the coyote piped up, whispering in her ear. Sierra's baby blue eyes turned slowly to face him.

"HAAAA!" the weasel screamed point-blank into the other, torturing the already terrified feline. She only had the energy to hang her head limp, feeling some blood drip from her mouth. The weasel hooked a finger inside her collar, tugging gently at it. "Say, uh...what do you think are the chances we get to do the 'Snap Her Choker' challenge on this pussy?" he chuckled, the coyote joining in. "Hope you're into some dirty stuff, kid. We've been needed new eye-candy for awhile" the coyote added, rubbing his dirtied face against the lioness's. Sierra grimaced at the touch, shivering in fear as the two finally dragged her to a white, steel compound.

They were greeted by a rottweiler, opening a naval-style steel door for them as they dragged their prisoner through. "We caught ourselves a fish" joked the weasel in a maniacal tone. Sierra's battered face looked up, seeing what was a well overcrowded compound ripe with the smell of rotting flesh. The smoke-filled haze clouded the ceiling, with a deep bass amplifier kicking up the dust and hay that littered the old concrete floor. Many of the members were gambling away in their obnoxiously drunk manner while others were brandishing firearms, discussing their weapons in a 'civilized' manner for the environment.

"HEY! ALRIGHT FOLKS, WHO WANTS THE FIRST SHOT AT THIS?" yelled the weasel, whose voice was partially drowned out by the blaring trap music. Only a few looks were earned, before returning back to their menial task.

"NO ONE?...HA! SHE'S ALL MINE THEN" he taunted, holding the lioness's collar from the back, licking his lips in a drooling manner as Sierra cringed and tried to pull away. "Hol' up, bud" a robotic-like voice called. The three turned their attention to the front; walking out of the hay bails was a black wolf whose face and head was concealed in a red handkerchief; only the area around his head roughly in line with his eyes being visible. The wolf held a Mossberg shotgun across his chest; old and destroyed combat gloves being the only thing to protect his hands. "I'll take her" he said quietly. "Wait..you!? Of all people?" the coyote yelled, cackling in disbelief at the proposition. The wolf's dim red eyes were unamused, the deep vocoded voice mumbling again, "You want to deny my first?" he asked calmly, walking slowly towards the white feline. Sierra began to hyperventilated, her breath wincing in pain from the bruised ribs, staring in fear at the wolf. The coyote shrugged to the weasel, letting go of her arm with the wolf simultaneously wrapping an arm around Sierra's neck, pointing the shotgun barrel at her belly. Sierra panicked even more, seeing the weapon softly press into her fur, trying her best not to sob in fear. She tried her best to kick and struggle, but the energy just wasn't there.

Her head moved around, looking up at the wolf who met her gaze.

"_His eyes...they're...empathetic?_"

"Please..." the weakest squeak Sierra could muster, "No..."

The wolf's eyes just slowly looked back up, dragging the lioness outside another steel door-hatch to a yard of shipping containers. "_His grip is...loose? Forgiving?_..." Sierra's weaken mind raced.

"HEY, Y'ALL GONNA SHARE HER NEXT!?" a voice called from the roof. The wolf sighed, looking up, "HELL YEA, BROTHER!" he replied. Sierra's ears twitched, "_His breath is...he's acting._.." she thought to herself.

The wolf opened an old red container, slamming it shut behind the two as the walls echoed; further dust and hay kicked up from the vibration. The wolf released grip of her neck, instead gripping either side of her rib-cage. "_What is he._.." Sierra pondered, suddenly finding her arm over his neck; carefully helping her to the back corner to rest her on some soft hay. She instinctively curled up, shivering from the fear and cold; her paws feeling like ice as her ears remained flat as paper on her head. He turned around, placing the shotgun on wooden crate, unwrapping the cloth that covered his face. His finger reached for a black box connected to his neck, switching it off as he took a long, drawn breath. "Don't worry" a deep, raspy voice echoed; his words soft to the ears. "I ain't gonna hurt you, I promise...the shotgun isn't even loaded anyways".

Sierra gently released her grip on her own legs; still clinging but enough to have them move a bit. The wolf turned around to reveal a melancholic face, looking down in pity at the poor girl. "I want to...apologize. I hate those bastards too...well, most of them at least." he whispered, slowly walking up to Sierra. She quickly tightened her grip again, shivering in fear as the large man approached, only to be surprised that he knelled before her. Both his hands held her calves, examining the minor lacerations that littered them. "Looks like you've been through a lot" he murmured, feeling the roughed fur covering her skin. His attention returned to the swelling face where she was hit, feeling the cheek bone carefully. Sierra winced in pain, breathing heavily through her nose as her jaw was locked tight from the frigid temperatures. "I know it hurts" he said comfortingly, reaching into a pocket to pull out a miniature whiskey jug; pulling off the cork. "Take this...it'll help" he offered. Sierra refused, scooting back into the pile while in fear of the man's intent. "It's fine...look" he whispered, taking a sip of the solution himself before offering it back. This time, Sierra was more obediently, taking a minor sip of the pungent liquid before resting again. "Th-...thank you" she barely mouthed.

The wolf pulled out a chair, placing it in front of the lioness as he carefully sat down, grabbing a thick but hay-spotted blanket to rest over the teen. Her paws crossed each other; rubbing them together and the blanket to generate some sort of warmth. "What's your name?" he asked.

"S-..Sierra" she replied.

"Sierra...where you from?"

"L-Las Vegas...Paradise to be more exact"

The wolf leaned back in his chair, his head shaking before rubbing his face in anguish, "You're a runaway, aren't you?". Sierra gently nodded, a tear rolling down her cheek. "Were you trying to head to Mackinaw?" he asked. She again nodded, choking up a soft response, "Y-Yes...".

"You wanna know something, Sierra..." he trailed off.

"I see a lot of kids like you. They run off and away from their families, thinking they can make a life for themselves...they run from abusive parents, broken homes. They usually got family members imprisoned" he added. "That's not the case with you, is it?".

Sierra just stared, still holding anxiety from the wolf. "Why?...Why did you decide to throw your life away?" he asked.

"I...I..." she stuttered, trying to form a response.

"Are you afraid?...To what your parents are gonna do to you?" he asked.

"I was failing school...they caught me doing nip...my love life was trashed...my world just crumbled around me. I felt that if I stayed, I was gonna be-"

"Your parents use corporal punishment?"

Sierra only shook her head, "I really want to go back...but I made it so far...I'm so close" she whimpered. "I can't go back now...".

"Yes, you can!" the wolf pleaded, leaning forward. "You can always go back".

Sierra's eyes started to water again, "They probably h-hate me...that I abandoned them...th-they-" she choked up, losing her ability to speak. The wolf stood up, looking down softly at her. "You want to know something else, Sierra?" he asked gently.

"I fought for 3 years in the Caucuses...there was someone I knew that I fought along side of. He's been shot twice, been in POW camps. I knew him all my life" he explained. "When he came back home, he found out he was gonna have a baby. It was the happiest day of his life...he was born on a frosty morning, but...he wasn't a very healthy birth" the wolf grimaced. "He tried to make it work...he spent everything...gave up everything for that child. That boy was all his hope and dreams for his future, to leave the war behind" he continued, looking down with somber. "They boy died two months later, that man did everything for him".

Sierra's face morphed to empathy, her face becoming red. "To this day, with everyone I knew in my entire life..." he trailed off, drinking a bit more of the vial he had offered Sierra earlier. "He never wept once during the war, but he did for his son. It was the only time I ever saw a grown-man cry...I don't mean he shed a few tears. This man sobbed his heart out for days...weeks straight. That was just with two months of knowing him...imagine how he would have reacted after 15, 16 years". Sierra reached out an arm, "I...I'm sor-"

"You see, your parents think they ain't ever gonna see you again...never hold you, touch you, never having closure on what happened and why you did it" he interrupted. "They didn't just lose a child, Sierra...they lost a piece of themselves". The wolf sat back down, gripping her muddied hand with a tender touch; his thumb carefully rubbing the back of their hand. "Your mother...man, she probably cried herself to sleep every night since you left. She cried in her dreams, when she wakes up she wants to vomit in despair knowing that her baby is gone". Sierra's face burned, burying it in the blanket, heavily sobbing into it. The pain she tried so hard to outrun had finally caught up, strangling her. The wolf gently placed his hand between her shoulder blades, rubbing tenderly; the heat being the only comfort he could give. "But, there's something you can do" he said softly. "It's never too late to go back".

Her arms reached out, slowly slipping around the man's torso, pressing her face into the dusty clothing. "But...I-I'm-"

"Shhhh...sh-sh-sh-sh..." he replied, stroking the back of her head. "I'm willing to help any way I can...I'll drive you all the way home from here...I can talk to them to try and protect you from any worse punishment you can think of" he tried comforting. "They love you, kid...they don't want you hurt. I bet if they had to crawl through that desert with a warship tied to their backs to bring you home, they'd do it" he added.

Sierra dried up her face, using the man's shirt as a tissue, though he seemed to take no mind in it. "W-what...what about the poli-"

"Forget about them, man...if you want me to protect you and keep them away from you, I can do that...I get it" he reassured. "Now listen...we can leave whenever you're ready, ok?...I can feed you, clothe you, give you a warm place to stay all the way back. Medical care. I'll pay for everything...I know you got a bright future ahead of you kid". Sierra's face slowly raised into a weak smile.

The wolf stood back up, "I'm Doc, by the way" he murmured. "I'm glad to meet you..." Sierra's voice whispered. Doc grabbed his shotgun, slinging it over his shoulder. "Now, are you able to walk?" he asked.

* * *

The alarm began buzzing in the pitch dark home. "_5:30 AM_" Kate sighed.

She rolled out of bed, gently knocking on Sierra's door, "Sweetie, it's time to get up" she said in a groggy tone. Carefully making it down stairs, she started the stove, looking down in a fog as she mindless cooked herself breakfast; the steam mildly burning her as water condensed on her face. She plopped down in front of the table, leaving a plate of eggs and bacon for herself, and a bowl of quinoa in front of her. She only stared down at her food, expressionless. Time dragged on, the heat slowly dissipating overtime to the point she couldn't even feet it anymore.

Larry eventually made his way downstairs, looking over in concern. "Kate, it's almost 7:00...what are you doing up?" he asked. Kate didn't even move or twitch an ear, simply releasing a soft sigh as she continued to look down. "You...made breakfast for two, again..." Larry trailed off. Kate gently gulped, standing up from the table, "I'm not hungry, Larry" she gently whispered. The lion wrapped his arms around her, gently kissing her cheek to try and comfort her. "Babe, I..." he tried to utter, losing his words quickly. Kate kept staring at the cold food, having no emotion as her husband tried to comfort her.

"Mom...where's Sierra?" a voice gently called upstairs. Hunter had made it half way down the steps, clinging to a stuffed bear by the arm. Larry huffed, carefully guiding Kate to sit on the couch before walking up to Hunter. He picked the cub up, carrying him to the couch where he sat him on his knees. "Hunter" he said gently.

"You know that...if you have a problem, you can always come to us and tell us, right?"

"Yea..."

"And you know that, no matter what, we'll always love you. And that there's nothing you could do that would change our minds, right?"

"Y-yea..." Hunter replied in confusion. "Is Sierra dead?" he asked, eyes watering gently.

Kate immediately stuttered and choked a sharp inhale at her son's words, trembling as she looked down. "No, no no no no no no..." Larry immediately replied, holding Hunter's head against him, gently petting the top of it. "She isn't, but...she's gonna be gone for awhile" he continued. "For how long?" the cub asked. A long pause filled the room, Sarmoti walking out from behind the fireplace. "I don't know, bud" Larry finally managed.

Sarmoti sat down next to Kate, wrapping an arm around her, "I'm sorry, Angel" he whispered, holding her into him. Kate let herself lean in, resting her body along his side, with the same expressionless face as before. "Hunter, why don't you go sit with your mother for awhile? I'm sure she'd appreciate it" Larry whispered. Hunter hopped off his father's lap, crawling his way over to hop onto the cushion next to Kate who barely noticed. The cub gripped his mother's tail, messing around with it gently. "Hunter..." Kate said, not amused. Hunter tugged it a bit, holding it to his mouth to gently nibble on it. "H-Hunter..." Kate gently giggled, "That tickles...". Hunter didn't bother to listen, continuing to nibble down to the end; feeling it twitch and try to fight in his mouth. Kate's somber mood slowly rose, a smile cracking through as she looked over, "Hunter, please!" she playfully pleaded. Hunter smiled back, giving a feign roar in response. "No! I am...the tickle monster!" he self-declared. Kate reached over to grab the cub, laughing softly as she held him up to her in a tight embrace, "I love you, hon" she softly muttered.

Hunter giggled and hugged softly back, his cone pressing into his mother's cheek, "I love you too, mom".


	6. Rehabilitation

Doc and Sierra made their way down the slippery and banked forest, Doc having Sierra's arm around his neck; holding her wrist has he hugged her with his free arm tightly. Sierra carefully hopped along with him on her good paw, keeping the injured one in the air as not to cause any damage to the already tender and damaged tissue. Approaching the road, Doc reached the arm grabbing her wrist to grab under her knee, lifting her off the ground just enough to step over a 2 foot drop that bordered the road, before setting her down. In front of them appeared to be an old muscle car; black and red with sponsorship of old or defunct company logos pastured across it. "This is it, kid" Doc said, carefully setting the lioness down behind the vehicle, letting her rest against it. He opened the truck, tossing the shotgun inside and pulling out a large jacket and some sort of blue pack. "Here, this'll keep ya warm" he said, handing her the comparatively large coat to her lithe body. The wolf folded the seemingly solid pack, causing a sizzling sound before handing it over, "Wrap this on your ankle, it'll keep the swelling down. I'll take a better look at it when we're out of here. I'm gonna quickly check the carburetor to make sure we're good to go" he explained, quickly trotting to the front of the vehicle. The pack felt cold to her, far more than the ambient surrounding. It stung at first, but slowly her body adjusted as she fastened it around her, trying to relax.

Sierra looked at all the sponsorship, the large number on the side of the car, the large chrome exhaust. "This kinda looks like a race car" Sierra mentioned. "That's because it is" Doc replied, turning some metal dials on top of the engine with some sort of pick. "It was my first race car, I built her with help from my dad when I was 10" he mentioned. "You're a race car driver?" she asked in disbelief. "Yep. As you can tell, it's the off-season, but...yea, it's how I make a living" he replied, closing the hood. "Alright, we should be good to go...come on, I'll show you around inside" he offered, grabbing Sierra again and assisting her to the passenger door. Inside she could see two racing seats with a halo surrounding the head area, the seats being a deep bucket to hold someone inside with a 6-point harness. The center console was nothing more than a myriad of complex switches, the steering wheel detached and dozens of small gauges angled at the driver's seat from the pillars, dash, and gauge cluster. "Whoa...looks complex" she muttered, behind carefully sat down in the seat as the wolf strapped her in. "It's not as bad as you think. Half of the switches are for lights and electronic assists that I added in once the car was retired". Shutting the door, Sierra continued to look around, seeing the roll bars cross in an X-shape between the seat and door.

With himself strapped in, Doc flipped a few switches before he pressed on the throttle, pulling a knob a surprising 4 inches out. "What's...that suppose to do?" Sierra asked curiously. "It's a choke. Back when the car was made you had to manually suck fuel into the carburetor in order to start up" he explained, finger finally resting on a black button, "Ready for this?" he smiled. With a soft nod from the lioness, the car suddenly shook violently, the deep sound of an engine struggling to come to life filled the cabin. Finally, a loud, booming explosion; the car vibrating rapidly to the engine purring and revving as Doc warmed the car up with a smile. "I love this car..." he mentioned, Sierra gripping her seat in surprise. The gauge cluster had lit up in multiple colors of yellow, blue, red, and green, before eventually everything turned into a full green. Doc turned another knob; blowing hot air onto Sierra, "Just to help you warm up". Sierra purred almost instantly, feeling her frostbitten paws warm up, her wet and shivering body drying up while snuggling in the jacket, "Th-thanks" she smiled. Doc pushed in the choke, reaching over to open the glove box. Inside were some papers and some sort of remote with a screen on it, but what caught Sierra's eye was a revolver with a carton box next to it. "This is an OBDII scanner. We shouldn't HAVE to use it but if something goes wrong, you'll have to read it" Doc explained. Sierra's face became increasingly uncomfortable the longer she stared at the revolver. "Wh-what's that for?" Sierra asked nervously. "Emergencies, hopefully i'll never need it". Pushing in the clutch, releasing the hand brake, he put the car into first gear, slowly taking off as the growling low-pitch engine roared with fury.

As the two settled in, Sierra continued to look around the gutted interior. "So...this is a real race car? That's actually raced?" she asked, still not fully believing him. Doc chuckled, approaching an entrance ramp to the Interstate, "If you don't believe me, then watch this" he winked. "NO NO NO! I'll take your word for it!" she quickly intervened before the wolf could lay down the throttle. Doc laughed to himself, granting her wish with a very comfortable acceleration. "I used her up until I was drafted and deployed in Azerbaijan" he mentioned. "She didn't race in this configuration...I rebuilt the engine to make it more economical and with less power, the doors used to be welded shut but I fixed that up...Also a different, more 'contained' roll cage. She's quieter than she was...a shell of what she used to be, but I made sure to keep as much bite as I could". Sierra nodded, an expression of confusion across her face, "I just can't imagine someone so young driving something so big and powerful...that fast! Is that even legal?" she asked. The wolf nodded, "Yea...it's not super uncommon in rural areas. It's kinda like firearms. Most people from the cities find it shocking whereas we find it as no big deal...like teaching a kid how to ride a bike. Was just something you were kinda expected to learn". "I'm...not comfortable about that" Sierra said in shock. "Not a gun person?" he asked, keeping his eyes focused on the road. Sierra nodded, having her only experience with firearms being within the last few days with her being on the wrong end of the weapons.

"So...if you're a racer...why do you hang out with...them?" Sierra asked, trying to look past the seat's halo. "The compound? Well...closest thing to family, I guess...A lot of them are people I went to high school with, some fought along side me. I don't 'love' them...or even 'like' most of them, but it's better than being alone, I guess" he mentioned. "What about your real fam-" Sierra began to ask, before quickly cutting herself off with wide eyes, "Oh, sorry! I didn't mean to ask if it's sensitive" she quickly backtracked. "Don't worry" he replied reassuringly, "I was an only child. Didn't know any extended family...didn't know my mom. But my dad loved me so much, and he taught me just about everything. How to race, how to shoot, working on cars, being a good man, the good word of God" he listed off. Sierra tucked her ears, thinking about her own mother while listening, "_I hope she still loves me_..." she thought to herself. "A lot of people just assume that I had some rough childhood when they hear how little family I had, but I honestly disagree...Yea we weren't rich, lived in the middle of nowhere, do what most normal kids did... but I had so many opportunities and experiences most kids...hell, most adults would envy. My dad was always there for me when I needed him through thick and thin, which is a hell of a lot more than anyone at the compound you wound up at can say".

The lioness grimaced hearing him reference the compound, piping up softly, "Why did you choose me?...Or, how did you know to help me?" she asked in a soft voice. There was a long pause between his response, before speaking up softly, "I could tell you were different...I know you were in bad shape, but you seem well fed, clothing as good as it could be for running away. And you had that look in your eye..." he trailed off. Sierra kept a melancholic expression, remaining silent as her eyes danced around at the shining gauges. "I knew you made a big mistake...I don't know if you were thinking about it or not, but you knew deep down you messed up...you just didn't want to admit it". He turned his head briefly, looking at Sierra before returning his attention to the road, "You just needed that one person to hold you and showed you that they care... that it's never too late, didn't it?" he asked. "Yea...I guess I did" she sighed."Get some rest kid...don't stress over it too much" Doc mentioned, continuing down the interstate as the pre-dawn hours approached.

* * *

_"Come on already..."_ Kate growled to herself, waiting outside the school impatiently. Her paw rapidly thumped against the ground, anxiously waiting for the children to be released. The sun was bright, but the weather contrasted with the harsh cold; the air feeling like ice filling the nose and lungs with every breath. Finally, a bell could be heard; ringing it's high pitch as children rushed out to the open. Kate's eyes remained peeled, searching diligently through the oncoming swarm. Finally, her eyes lit up, face turning to a bright smile as she saw a young lion run out. "Hunter! Over here, sweetie!" she called out, getting onto one knee to great the pouncing child. Hunter was clinging tightly, purring softly as he was held for the few moments. "Come on, I got a surprise for you at home" she enticed, setting him back down and walking with him.

As the two arrived through the door, the aroma smelled sweet from baking, filling up the cub's nose with wonder. "Mom... is that the surprise?" he asked in reference to the smell. Kate chuckled softly, looking down at her son, "See for yourself" she mentioned, pointing to the kitchen. Without hesitation, the lion bolted towards the room, his eyes lighting up to the sight of chocolate cake sitting on the table. "WOW!" he yelled, turning excitedly towards his mother, "This is all for me!?" he asked, bouncing excitedly. Kate laughed softly, sitting next to him and patting his head, "Not ALL of it...I don't want you to have a stomach ache...but yes, you can have it now". With those words, she cut a generous slice out for him, putting it on a clean plate for Hunter. Though before she even settled it on the table, he had already started gorging on it.

Larry walked into the home not long after, looking over in surprise. Kate looked over, still smiling from her son's excitement, though something seemed...of about it. "Kate?" he asked in confusion. She grinned wider, gently shrugging as she chuckled a bit silently. "You...you never give the kids sweets so early...nor so much of it" he said in confusion, slowly walking over to the feasting lion. "Well...I thought I'd do something different today... for him!" Kate explained. Larry scratched the back of his head, concern filling his face before looking back, "But... you made him cupcakes this morning... and brownies last night" he said. "Don't you think that this is a little too much?" he asked. "No!" she quickly retorted, her voice incredibly defensive before her face quickly changed to confusion, shaking her head to snap herself out of it. "Kate...I'm still upset about Sierra too, but-".

"But what!?" Kate retorted again, the defensiveness in her voice even higher. Her attention shifted towards Hunter, looking back in concern while watching him eat away at the desert. "Hunter's going through a difficult time" she explained in a more composed voice, "He doesn't understand what's going on... you know that!". "I know, but-".

"But what? You don't love our son?" Kate hastily accused. Larry's eyes shot wide open, shocked at the sudden mood change. "Kate...are you okay?" he asked, his head ringing with alarms. "Of course I'm fine! I've been fine!" she strained, cooling off a bit before walking around the hefty lion. "You men don't know how to love your children" she scoffed, walking upstairs as she passed her father making his way down. Sarmoti looked back in confusion, before returning his look to Larry, "What's up with her?" he asked in a grouchy voice. "Hell if I know" Larry shrugged, before looking down and holding his head, shaking it gently. "I think the last time she did this was when she was pregnant with the kids" Larry said. "Well, did you have sex with her _at all_ recently?" Sarmoti responded, his eye twitching with interrogation. Larry shook his head, "Not since Sierra left. We tried last night, but...neither of us were really feeling it" he sighed. Sarmoti sighed, looking down with his face grimacing, "I'll be honest, I can't think of any other time she acted this way". "It's Sierra" Larry stated, his face long with grief with a heavy sigh. "Well no shit, Sherlock!" Sarmoti hollered, arms raised in the air. "But...I'm concerned for her...something isn't right with her head" he continued with a calmer voice. Larry huffed, peering up the stairwell, "I'll talk to her tonight". The elder lion shook his head, "No...it'll only make things worse, I can feel it" he begged. "I'm doing it!" Larry declared, "She's gonna give our son diabetes within a week at this rate!".

"Alright Hunter, I think you've had enough fun for tonight" a motherly voiced giggled, tucking her tired son in. "Goodnight, mom" he weakly said, his eyes barely opened. Kate leaned over to sweetly kiss the cub, holding it for a seconds before leaning back, patting her son's head. "Get some rest...I love you" she whispered with a sweet smile. "I..love you too, ma..." he trailed off, falling asleep instantly. Kate turned on the nightlight by the door, leaving it open by a crack before walking downstairs.  
"Wow! I can't believe he was up for so long!" she giggled, turning her attention to Larry and Sarmoti watching TV, holding their beer with blank expressions. Larry turned his head over, his tired face becoming concerned, "Kate...it's 2:00 am..." he mentioned, standing up slowly as set the beer aside. "So!? Hunter's getting to the age where he can stay up a little later!" Kate exclaimed with mild fury, eyes widening. "Kate...he's 10...2:00 am seems a little excessive, don't you think?" he replied. "What did you just say to me?" Kate replied slowly, her voice seething. Sarmoti shook his head, looking down in futility at the incoming confrontation.

"I'm saying that this is out-of-character... for you of all people! You yelled at me just a month ago for letting him stay up until 10:00 pm to watch Football!" Larry replied. "That's because you love that damn game more than you seem to love your kids!" Kate replied, her voice amplifying. Larry's eyes widened, face flushed of color as he took a step back, both his hands in the air, "Kate...". Her face stood firm, her anger directed at him with clenched fists, "Unless you want to get more involved with Hunter's life, then DON'T tell me how to raise him!". "I'm his FATHER" he exclaimed back, "I spend some time every day with him! Just like you!". Kate huffed, her piercing stare not wavering from her husband. Larry sighed softly, his voice calming back down, "Honey, I know you're still upset about Sierra... it's hard for all of us". Kate immediately snapped, "Oh FUCK OFF with that 'B-but it's hard for me too' bullcrap!" she said mockingly, her rage boiling over. "If you even GAVE A LITERAL FUCK about what happened, or even HER then she'd still be here!". By this point, Hunter had arose from the arguing downstairs, wobbling out to the stair landing and eavesdropping undetected. Sarmoti sighed, standing up, "Kate, that's enou-" he said softly, being quickly cut off. "OH, DON'T YOU TAKE HIS FUCKING SIDE!" Kate yelled, her pointing finger having the weight of a rifle as the sights were aimed down at him. "Sweetheart, I'm not" Sarmoti tried to calmly explain. "Speaking of...where were YOU when Sierra needed support!? I can't remember a damn time that she was here, and you WEREN'T gambling with your drunk buddies!" Kate interrogated, her finger still loaded at her father. Hunter's jaw dropped, his breath shivering at the sound of his mother.

"KATE, SHUT UP!" Larry interjected, his patience running thin as he became agitated with the situation. Kate's enraged stare shifted onto Larry, saying nothing with her mouth just open, jaw locked with a menacing look. Larry took a long inhale, trying to calm down, "This isn't you... I know it isn't you..." Larry whispered, his eyes trying to hold back pressure as he watched his wife's mental state deteriorate before his eyes. "Yea, marry someone you DON'T EVEN FUCKING KNOW!" Kate screamed, her voice loud enough to vibrate the walls, "WORSE FUCKING MISTAKE I EVER MADE!". Larry's heart shattered, Sarmoti's face in utter shock at what he was witnessing. "_My little girl...what happened to you?_" he thought in somber. "How...could you say that?" Larry uttered, doing his best not to choke. Hunter all the while covered his mouth, not being able to hear it any longer, scampering back into his bed. The three lions downstairs looked up, hearing the noise. "And now you woke our son up!" she said, seething more. "Kate, your yelling woke him up!" Larry exclaimed, trying to find any semblance of masculinity to build himself back up. "No, YOU DID!" Kate screamed, "ALL YOU EVER DID WAS BOTHER AND NEGLECT YOUR KIDS! Y-YOU'RE LIKE A DRUNK, LARRY! A WORTHLESS DRUNK!". "NO, I AM NOT!" Larry defended, the empty vacuum of emotion inside being filled with anger.

"YES YOU DID! SIERRA PROBABLY RAN AWAY BECAUSE YOU WOULDN'T PAY ANY GOD DAMN ATTENTION TO HER!". Sarmoti got in between the two, trying to play mediator in fear of further escalation, "List-" he tried to speak calmly, though it was no use.

"YOU WERE THE LAST ONE TO FUCKING TALK TO HER BEFORE SHE RAN OFF. IF ANYTHING, IT WAS YOUR PATHETIC REASONING SKILLS TO DEAL WITH HER THAT PUSHED HER OUT". Larry yelled back.

Kate's response was swift, but non-verbal. The moment Larry stopped, she had swung a right-hook out of nowhere, her clenched fist landing perfectly on the lion's cheek. Larry's head suffered severe whiplash, completely stunned from the surprisingly hard hit. Before he could even process what happened, Kate lunged at him, her voice nothing but a primitive tribal cry as she tried to continue the assault. Sarmoti tried catching her, pushing her away to keep her off, but his frail body couldn't do much but bring him to his knees. Kate's stomach landed on her father's head, falling over as her other arm grabbed Larry's mane, delivering another, less effectively right-hook that brushed his nose. Sarmoti struggled under his daughter, trying to keep her off and limit the damage. Kate's shots became more rapid and less effective, getting soft shots on Larry's shoulder and arm as she tried to lean over. Larry finally got his sense together, reaching out to grip Kate's shoulder, delivering a violent shove-off as the lioness fell backwards. The air filled with heavy breathing, Kate slowly getting back up. Her face had changed from rage to internal pain, looking at her open hands at what she just did. Larry looked up in horror and confusion, still on the floor with Sarmoti's heavy body pinning his awkwardly stuffed leg down. Kate's breathing escalated, hastily grabbing a thick coat off the stand by the door. "Kate?" Sarmoti called softly to no reply, as the lioness had slammed the door behind her as she ran out.

The elder lion slowly got up, having to use the table to help his body back up. He dusted himself off, looking down to a still shocked lion. "Larry...you alright?" the elder lion asked, trying to get his breath back. "I'm fine" he replied, his angered voice contrasting his distraught face. He stumbled to his feet, trying to reorient whatever he fell on, before storming off to the kitchen. "Larry...you- you can't go to the police about her. You KNOW that's not her!" Sarmoti pleaded, his voice just as shocked at the ordeal. "Don't worry" he replied, disgruntled. "She's probably on her way to tell the cops that I started it", he continued, his voice trembling as he brought a beer back to the couch. His body was sore from where he fell and the blows that were landed. "No... No, she wouldn't do that. You saw her face... she sobered up" he tried to explain. Larry wiped his face, trying to clean his eyes of water as he tried to stay stern. "You were right... I shouldn't have fuckin' did that" he whimpered, taking another heavy chug from the beer. "It snapped her out of it... I mean-" Sarmoti tried to explain. "I just want to hold her" Larry cut him off, choking up as he cracked open another beer. "I know she didn't mean to... but... what I've worked for 17 years is just falling apart within a god damn week!" he tried to continue. Sarmoti wrapped an arm around him, gently patting his shoulder as he shared his solidarity. "She'll be back... She'll be back... I'll be right here when she does" he tried to comfort. "It's gonna take a long time to move pass this, son... but she'll be back".

* * *

"Hey, kid...come on, we're here" Doc said, tapping Sierra's shoulders. The lioness opened her eyes, having not been able to sleep much during the trip. "Come on, I don't want you to walk on that ankle yet" he said in a calming voice, reaching in to wrap an arm behind her back, the other under her knees as he carefully extracted her from the vehicle. Sierra lazily wrapped her arms around his neck, her weary head laying into his arm as he carried her inside an old motel room.

He carefully sat the lioness down on a bed, taking off the pack around her leg and tossing it away. "How does it feel?" he asked. "It...I can still feel the pain radiating, deep inside" she whimpered. Doc carefully removed the jacket he had given Sierra, putting it next to her. "Kid, I ain't gonna follow you in there for...obvious reasons, but you ought to shower. Good Lord knows you need it" he muttered, pulling a cigar out of his pocket. "I'm gonna have a smoke outside. You're free to use my jacket until we get there since you pretty much have nothing else" he offered, pulling a lighter out. "Thanks...' Sierra gently whimpered out.

Not long later, Sierra found herself in the shower; leaning her body into the wall while only her good leg was planted. She purred at the feeling, the hot water feeling merciful to battered body washing away the dirt, pain, and suffering it accumulated. Her eyes stayed closed as the steaming water landed gently on her head, massaging it and putting her sleep-deprived mind into a fog. She adjusted her injured leg, trying to let the heat relax the pain away to mild effect. "I needed this so bad..." she whispered aloud.

Her mind came to focus on Doc, before it began to race quickly with questions.

_"He...seems genuinely nice...but so did that trucker"_

_"I'm all alone with him...he could take advantage of me any time...he was with those awful people..."_

_"I can trust him though...he could have done anything to me while i was asleep...when he helped me walk...carried me...he went out of his way to drive this far back just for me"._

_"He can't be like the others...what choice do I have at this point?"._

_"I just want to be home..."_

Sierra gently rubbed her chest, gliding her hand over her breast, across her belly and hip, up until the cuts on her legs began. Her fur felt far smoother than before, slick and soft to the touch even if it's wet. "_My fur says I'm ok.._." she thought. She looked at her scarred legs, full of thin red lines that haphazardly streaked across at random. "They're thinner...I'm healing faster..." her mind commented.

She gingerly walked out of the bathroom, cleaned with Doc's jacket on and zipped up being the only thing she wore. The sleeves were far too long and baggy for her, but the length was long enough to easily cover her rear and upper thighs. Doc was laying in one of the beds, facing away from her motionless. "Doc?..." she softly asked, "I thought you were having a smoke?". "Yea, I did...you were in there for fuckin' 90 minutes" he chuckled, still facing away. "Are you decent?" he asked. "Y-yea..." she replied, laying herself down on the empty bed, only propping herself up with her arms bracing under her back. The wolf rose, "Aight, let's take a look at what we're dealing with..." he muttered, rising out of bed and kneeling at the front of hers.

He gripped half way up her calf, his free hand gently feeling around the ankle and lower leg. Sierra winced at the pain as he felt to thin bones on either side, checking her Achilles as his eye examined the swelling. "Well...good news is that it doesn't appear to be broken" he said, being very cautious to rest her leg back down on the bed. The lioness scoot herself back, her upper back resting on the pillows with her head elevated. "But, I wouldn't recommend walking on it. I don't have anything like a cane but if you need help getting somewhere, you can use me" he offered. Sierra nodded, tucking herself in, "Thanks...I...I can't express how grateful I am for you" she softly uttered. "You're welcome...which reminds me" he said, reaching the side his bed, pulling out a bag of McDonald's. "I don't know what you like, so I went for something fairly standard and plane" he said, handing it over. Sierra looked inside, smelling the meat, "Thanks...though..." she uttered, stopping herself. Doc raised an eyebrow, "What? You vegan or something?" he said jokingly. "Y-yea...I am actually". "Oh..." he replied, his face flushed in profound idiocy, "Sorry, I should've asked fi-". "It's fine...I'll still eat it...just this once, I'm starving" she smiled.

Doc laid back down on his back, chuckling a bit, "Man, you and I are fairly different, eh? I don't know what I would do without beef", reflecting back on their differences expressed on the ride over. Sierra gently giggled, taking the liberty to eat her fries whilst leaving the rest on the side of the bed.

"So, what do you do back home besides school?" Doc asked out of curiosity, leaning back into the bed with his head resting on his hands. Sierra turned her head, briefly taking her attention away from her hunger, "Oh? Uh-, other than helping my dad with some stuff, nothing. I don't really have a job".

"What does he do?"

"He's one of the lions for Siegfried and Roy...They're a magic duo where I live"

"Whoa! Really?" Doc exclaimed in surprise. "That's gotta be cool as hell"

Sierra chuckled, "Yea, I guess it is"

"How about school?"

"Oh, I'm in an honors program for the arts. Uh, music and singing specifically. That takes a lot of my time but I am on the school's cheerleading squad".

"Ya know, I kinda had a feeling you were a cheerleader" he chuckled. "I used to play Football when I wasn't racing. I remember all the pretty girls on the sidelines... you remind me so much of them". Sierra blushed, giggling briefly, "Oh my god...you're not hitting on me, are you?". "Hey, there ain't nothing wrong with calling someone pretty. Especially if it's true" he winked. "Yea, but you're, like 40!" she chuckled. Doc recoiled his head, face in a mildly offended expression. "I'm...I'm 24" he clarified. Her face quickly shifted to embarrassment, "O-oh...I'm so sor-". "Nah, don't worry. Believe me when I say you're nowhere near the first to think that" he chuckled, shaking his head gently. "You ever date a football player? It was fairly common when I was in school" he asked curiously.

"I did, actually...he was kind of an idiot".

"Yea...we are kinda idiots" he shrugged. "Our coach certainly reminded us that...I remember one time he looked me dead in the eye and called me 'The saddest fucking gnoll God ever put on green earth' because I missed a sack". Sierra's eyes widened, gasping audibly at the jarring use of the slur. "He called you the G-word!?" she asked in shock. "Yep...looking back I don't really care that much. Being a massive ass to rally an uncooperative team against a common personal enemy is something coaches did...and by any means they made it happen". Sierra shook her head, crossing her arms in a sigh. "That's terrible... It would never fly today. Our coach actually got fired just for telling a player he was 'too fat' to play". Doc snorted out in surprise, clenching his fist over his mouth trying to hide his laughter, "Oh you gotta be kidding!". Sierra just shrugged, "Not even liberal me is on-board with that one" she said jokingly.

Doc burst allowed laughing at the remark, closing his eyes as he tried to calm down, "God damn kid!". Sierra only joined in, absorbing the wolf's infectious laughter. The smile to her face brought her warmth, not having genuinely felt like this in months. For the first time, she had a bright spot enter her life...in her journey. "Perhaps some good still remains in this world...".

The wolf yawned, arching his back as his body became far more limp, "I'm gonna get some sleep, kid. Gotta get up early to grab some things for you while we're in town" he offered. "If you need me, don't be afraid to wake me up" he added. Sierra smiled, "Thanks...Goodnight Doc" she said sweetly, turning off her light.

"Oh, and Doc?" she said more shyly. "Yea?" he replied. Sierra gave a fair pause, before gently speaking up, "Thank you...for what you're doing... you're the first person who even seemed to care". He paused a few moments himself, "Kid, there ain't anything else I'd be happier doing with my time right now. I like ya, kid... and if I'm honest, the first genuinely nice person I've met in_ a long time"._

_"_Yea...he is different from the others..." she thought to herself with a warm smile.


	7. Epiphany

"God...Damn!" Sierra gritted, clenching her injury in agony with her eyes squeezed shut. She had woken up to unbearable pain; the tender tissue feeling raw as it radiated pain all up and down her leg. The feeling was so sensitive that she could feel her blood vessels pulsate as if it grew and shrank several times it's size. The in-reality minute difference was enough to send pulsating waves of pain to the tissue. She tried to open her eyes, jaws clenched tight, seeing Doc nowhere to be found. "_How on earth can something hurt this bad..._" she cried internally, having never dealt with such a horrible sensation before. "_He said it wasn't broke!_" her thoughts turned to anger.

What felt like forever after waking up, the door opened, a black wolf with a plastic bag walking in. "Mornin' K-...Christ, are you okay?" he asked in concern, tossing the bag aside and quickly getting to her side. Sierra could only muster to shake her head, writhing in pain as her voice made soft grunting noises. He quickly rose to his feet, shuffling around the bag he brought with him, "Kid, you said you got busted for drug use, right?" he asked quickly, pulling something else. "Y-yea...the fuck that's gotta do with anything!?" she strained out in frustration. "Did it happen to be cat nip?" he asked, looking over his shoulder. "YES!" she screamed angrily. "Then I hope you don't mind smoking it" he replied, turning around to reveal a clear-glass bong, filling it with water with a decent-sized bag of nip with him. "I'm sure you know what this can help with" he muttered, hastily stuffing the bowl with the herb before handing it over. The lioness tried calming down, grabbing it as her small muzzle poked into the pipe. Taking out a lighter, Doc took the liberty of getting it started, keeping the flame going until smoke and steam started to rise up the paraphernalia. Sierra took a long, heavy inhale, her body freezing up as she held her breath before exhaling through the mouth. Her mood slowly calmed, though still trembling in pain as the drug hadn't fully entered her bloodstream. "Th-thank you...how did you know?" she asked softly, looking up at him with tired eyes. "Just a feeling...it's what most cats do when they say 'I did drugs'". She softly huffed, "Where did you even get this?". "We're in Illinois. The place has recreational laws so a dispensary wasn't hard to find".

The lioness took a few more hits, exhaling in ecstasy as the pain subsided; still present but the relief felt like pleasure. "I also grabbed some wrap... it's like gauze, but stiff... to help with your ankle and keep it in place. But I guess we're holding off on that for awhile" Doc continued. "You're a life saver...it felt like I was gonna die from that pain" she muttered in a partially stoned voice, the drug starting to hit her.

* * *

_KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK_

The knocking sound resounded in the pre-dawn hours. The desert air cold as ice as the only semblance of light refracted off the exhales of someone in front of the door. The winds howled, unforgiving to anyone caught it in as the figure shivered, staring up at the large home. Finally, a door opened, a white tigress looking out in slumber. Her eyes opened in surprise, her paw covering her mouth slightly, "Kate?".

She brought the lioness inside, walking along side her while holding one of her arms with both hands, "My goodness, what're you doing out there at this time?" the tigress asked in concern. She carefully sat Kate down in a large recliner before scurrying into the kitchen, returning with a mug of hot chocolate and a glass of wine for herself. Kate silently accepted it, though looked into the mug as the steam blew into her face. "Kate?" she asked again, softer in concern. "I just needed someone to talk to...someone who also had kids" she whimpered out, taking a small sip. The scolding liquid in her mouth didn't seem to bite at all, staying melancholic through the pain. "I..." the tigress started, stopping herself to carefully consider her words. The full moonlight through the massive glass window was the only thing to light the room other than a dimly lit candle. The atmosphere was silent with echos of the ambiance contained within the massive room. "I heard...my son said that Hunter has been depressed the past week... he said Sierra was... uh... " she tried to continue, looking into her glass with a somber look, "I'm sorry to hear". "It's my fault, Victoria" she whimpered, her voice squeaked with pain as she took another small sip. "I'm so embarrassed... lost... I want it all back" she choked up.

Victoria arose, setting the alcohol aside to stand by Kate, comfortingly holding the grieving mother with a soft sigh. "How's Larry handling it?" she asked. "I don't even think he cares!" she rambled out, her eyes tightening shut. The white tigress's ears tucked, realizing her mistake. "I...I just don't think he gets it, but...at the time I couldn't understand why!" the lioness continued, her voice hinting towards anger. "Of course he doesn't get it" Victoria whispered gently, holding her head and leaning it into her. "He didn't carry her for 9 months, spend every moment she was home with her for years on end... take care of her in just about every way at home" she tried to explain, still trying to process the sudden need of support. Kate continued to weep silently, her face turning into the tigress to hide it. "He's probably already got-" Kate tried to stutter, but quickly silencing herself at her own thoughts. "_I can't handle a divorce...not now_".

"I hurt him, Victoria...b-badly" she whimpered out. The tigress was taken back in surprise, "What do you-..." she tried to process, though quickly silencing herself to try and protect Kate. "He'll never want me back" Kate whispered.

Victoria took a long breath, sighing slowly as the two embraced each other tightly. "Blake is gonna be gone for a few more days, yet... you're welcome to stay here until he's back" she offered, stroking the lioness's head. Kate could barely find the strength to answer, merely pressing her face into Victoria's body more as her reply.

* * *

Sierra sat herself up on the bed, legs stretched out with Doc wrapping up her injured one. She was holding a tablet with a mortified face.

"Fifteen laps to go, Cotter is coming up close on lap traffic, how will this affect his- OH, SMOKE ON THE BACKSTRETCH" the speakers played, the screen showing a car in an uncontrolled slide, plowing violently head-on into a concrete wall. The force was so violent that the entire vehicle lifted off it's wheels, spinning like a top and shedding so much debris. It's high climb ended, falling back to earth at an alarming speed. It landed on it's roof, crushing the upper structure as it violently kicked up dirt on the wet grass it found itself on, the ghastly spectacle finally ending far beyond the point of initial impact.

"Jesus..." Sierra said with shock and awe. "And...you do this for a living?" she asked, turning her head to Doc who had finished wrapping, grabbing some coffee that's been brewing. "Yep. It's a lot more fun when you aren't crashing" he replied, taking a mug over to the lioness. "And you said over 300 miles per hour?" she asked in disbelief, returning her gaze to a screen that showed a destroyed vehicle surrounded by medical personnel. "Well, we obviously don't reach those speeds at every track, but, yea. Roughly 330".

"Oh my God, this is barbaric!" she decried, "It's a miracle you guys aren't killed every time you crash...I can't imagine how their families must feel". "Oh, yea. They're a little more used to it than you think" he mentioned. "But, there are still people getting hurt and dying" she said. "You're right...but it's what we signed up for". Sierra shook her head, putting down the device, "I don't even know how this is legal". Doc chuckled, taking a sip out of his mug, "Aw, come on kid, not everything can be safe and sterile" he joked. "If people wanna get together and agree to be suicidal maniacs in a 300 mile per hour tin can, than who are we to stop em'?".

The lioness sighed, gripping her coffee with both hands. "How well have you been doing in it?" she asked, staring into his eyes as she took a small sip. "Uhh...last year wasn't all that great, we finished 17th in points. I think only 1 win? We're usually a top 10 team" he shrugged. "We didn't even get to finish out the season. Third to last race I fucked up my knee trying to avoid an accident...plowed into someone nearly at a stop with a full head of steam". With one hand still on her coffee, she reached her free arm around to hug the wolf standing bedside, "Just promise me you'll try to stay safe?" she asked, concern ringing through her voice. "I'll be as safe as necessary".

With the concluding remarks, Doc finished up the last of his coffee. "Come on, I wanna take you somewhere before we hit the road again" he offered with a soft smile.

* * *

Larry cracked open another beer, letting his 10th one fall to side of the couch. His vision was impaired, head wobbling slightly from the inebriation as he continued to drink the pain away. "Ya know, son. Drowning your sorrows isn't gonna bring her back" Sarmoti said in criticism, hands on his hips with an angry stare. The words just bounced off the fat lion, taking another chug out of the tall can before wiping the remaining alcohol off his lips. The old lion sighed, sitting in the chair next to him. "Larry, she's pretty volatile right now" he continued, this time with a more forgiving tone. "It's not easy losing a child... I oughta know". Larry turned his drunken head to face the lion, his pupils massive but in varied size, disgruntled and bitter. "I never told her this, but before she was born, I had another daughter. Had her for about... I don't know, 3 years?" he explained, looking down with a grimaced face, "Pneumonia took her when she got sick. Me and her at the time just fought end on end. I kept trying my hardest to take initiative of trying to resolve it... I shouldn't have done that" he admitted. "Before I knew it she torched the house and I never saw her again". Larry crushed the empty beer, throwing it down to the side before picking up another, still seething at the whole situation. "I know you want closure... for Kate and Sierra. But, you need to realize that she needs the space" he added. Sarmoti stood up, standing in front with a stern face, "She'll come back... eventually. But, for right now you have a son to worry about". Larry seemed to just continually ignore the old lion, drinking more and more throughout the conversation. Sarmoti sighed, shaking his head, walking upstairs slowly, "Christ as my witness" he muttered.

He opened a cracked door, peering inside to see a younger male face planted into his pillow, his body twitching every few moments. "Hunter...buddy?" Sarmoti asked, walking towards the cub. The young lion raised his head, eyes watery with his lips sucked into his mouth. The elder lion sat on his bed, patting his head gently to try and comfort the young boy. "Do...Do mom and dad hate each other?" he mumbled out, voice full of despair. "No... No they don't kid" he said calmly, "But times have been tough... they've been going through a lot... you've been going through a lot" he tried to explain, giving as sincere of an expression he could. Hunter continued to tremble slightly, "W-why isn't... S-Si-Sierra home?" he stuttered out, tears slowly rolling out each of his eyes. "M-Mom said...s-sh-eee'd be back..." he choked up further. Sarmoti grimaced, hugging the cub tightly while gently petting his head, unable to respond at first. His eye caught a picture just in his view as it laid on the bed's pillow. It was of Hunter and Sierra from only a few months ago. Hunter was laughing in the photo, looking up happily at a loving sister, returning a warm smile as she hugged him from behind. He returned his look to his grandson, whose face was buried in his side. "Kid... there's some things you're too young to understand... and this being one of them" Sarmoti said. "Your sister is out there... she's alive and well..." he tried to comfort. The child looked up in sadness and confusion, "Then why isn't she here?" he squeaked out. The elder lion sighed, trying to find the words to respond. "Your sister loves you very much, Hunter... you'll see her again one day, I-...I promise... but I don't know when" he softly assured, feeling the guilt well up inside from the uncertain oath.

"Sierra...S-Sierraaa...w-would be here, a-and play with me... whenever m-ooom and dad w-were mad at each o-other" Hunter trembled out. Sarmoti looked around, finding a miniature Gandalf laying on the floor. He leaned over, gripping the toy while examining it, before looking back over to his grandson. "Hey..." he whispered, holding the toy up to Hunter. "Why not take a trip to middle-earth?" he asked. Hunter looked at the toy, staring intently for a few moments. His sniffling slowly calmed down, whimpering out, "O-okay..." he reluctantly agreed. "Come on, we gotta get the ring back from...Frodo, yea..." Sarmoti suggested. Hunter's grim faced giggled a bit, slowly morphing out of his depression, "N-No...that's Gollum, grandpa!". Sarmoti chuckled with him, staying with the cub to keep him company through the morning.

* * *

"Now...the trick is the get as much spin on it that you can. It'll cause the stone to bounce" a deep, raspy voice explained. Doc stood right behind Sierra, gripping her shoulder with one hand, the other completely dwarfing Sierra's smaller, more delicate ones as he guided her grip. Her thumb and middle finger pinched the rock, with her index finger around the edge. "And remember, you don't need to step into it like a baseball pitch, just a mild twist to let your arm release" he continued to explain, gently guiding Sierra's body through the form, his massive finger loosening in grip around Sierra's to indicate release. "I...think I got it" Sierra spoke, the wolf stepping aside towards the lake is response, "Alright, give it a shot". With a deep breath, Sierra twisted her body, her arm throwing with good form. Upon release, the rock instead flew right into Doc's forehead, bouncing up into the air before landing just beside the pier. Sierra gasped, then giggled softly at the plunk, "Oops...Sorry about that". The wolf just shook his head, chuckling back back as he gingerly walked behind her, "Maybe I ought to change my eye color so you don't see a bulls-eye" he joked.

He handed Sierra another stone, before taking an exaggerated step behind her. Sierra smiled, still giggling at the wolf before she lined up her shot again, throwing the stone with a nice trajectory. The stone skimmed across the surface, taking abrupt lifts as it went along before sinking. The clean, completely still lake began to ripple out into gentle waves from the impacts, the reflection inside becoming more and more distorted as time passed. "Two skips" Doc smiled, shaking his head as he looked at the water. "Not a bad throw, kid" he continued, looking over at the lioness with a smile. Doc pulled another stone out of his jacket, standing in Sierra's place as the lioness carefully sat down in a chair, watching the wolf toss out a 4-skip stone. "Wow...you're good at this" Sierra commented. Doc smiled, looking at the shot, "Lot of practice...me and my dad would skip stones whenever times were tough, and we both needed it. It was nice, relaxing, somewhat therapeutic to watch the ripples flow on a still pond" he explained.

Sierra gently sighed, looking down into her lap with melancholy. "You think about what you're gonna say to your parents?" Doc asked, kneeling down beside her. She silently shook her head, "I'm still worried that they won't take me back" she whimpered out. He wrapped an arm around her, gently rubbing her far shoulder. "It's a tough confrontation" he softly murmured. "I think the first thing would be to apologize...or at the very least, show remorse...I know you're already planning on that though" he continued softly. Sierra only nodded in agreement. "Sorry, I- uh...didn't mean to play parent. Just trying to throw advice out there" he said. "No, it's fine...any help at this point is welcomed" she admitted. "I doubt there will be much talking the first day...or much scolding" Doc replied, petting the top of her head, "I think the only question they want to know is why...everything else is secondary to them...except maybe when they see you limping". Sierra chuckled, leaning her head into the wolf's shoulder. Her face returned to a stern expression, "But...how do I even respond to that? It...It's stupid why I ran". "Be candid about it" he offered, "It may seem stupid to all of you, but clearly expressing why it happened is the first step to preventing it".

Doc stayed close, his arm still around her to keep her comfort. "Don't take what I'm about to say as proselytizing, I know you probably aren't religious...but, here's something that might help" he offered. Sierra's worried eyes looked at the wolf, her eyes glittering from tears silently in them. "We have a concept in Catholicism, called reconciliation. It's one of the seven sacraments you go through in your life". Sierra sighed in disappointment, "I know what reconciliation is, it's not just a religious thing. It happens all the time. Two parties just accept that something happened and try to move on" she said cynically. "You're...almost right. But there's something important you're missing" he offered. Sierra's attention returned to the wolf, her face still in melancholy.

"Somewhere in the Book of Matthews, there's a verse that goes a little something like this" he explained, clearing his voice for the message.

_"If you forgive others for their sins, your Father in heaven has forgiven you for your sins. But if you don't forgive others, your Father in heaven has not forgive your sins"_

Sierra looked in cynicism again, her face still in despair, "So? What does that have to do with this?" she asked. "What it's saying, is that the only way that anyone can reconcile with others, they have to reconcile with themselves first...It's more than just accepting what happened, Sierra" he said softly, tightening his embrace around the depressed lioness, "It's about forgiveness...if you fear that you won't be forgiven for what you have done, regardless if it's true or not, it means you haven't forgiven yourself first". Sierra stared back into the wolf's eyes, her face more intrigued and open to the wolf's advice. "Forgiveness requires love, Sierra. And in order to love others...forgive others...be forgiven by others...you have to learn to love yourself first...forgive yourself first" he continued solemnly. "It's clear as day that you haven't forgiven yourself for what you did. You never gave yourself closure. That's why you wanted to keep running, right?". There was a pause in the air, the winds picking up as it brushed their exposed fur. "You were afraid of retribution because when you realized your mistake, how stupid it was, you didn't want to forgive yourself for it...you felt like you had to keep going so you didn't have to. But when I found you, stopped you, you realized deep down it's what you needed...and just didn't have to words to express or realize that". Sierra sat in silence, her eyes showing her mind running rapidly. Her entire life flashed through her head, everything she's ever done, both good and bad, replayed out of the recesses of her mind.

Her mind had finally broken through with an epiphany.

"I..." she tried to state, at a lost for words. Her eyes showed both the greatest rejoice with the burden alleviated from her, but also the agony of having to realize so late. "It's okay, kid" the wolf tried to comfort, hugging her tightly and letting her face bury into his shoulder. The lioness returned the favor, squeezing him as tight as she could to let the emotion flow out. "My father taught me the same tough lessons skipping stones" he spoke softly, barely audible to Sierra.

They shared their embrace for the fleeting moments. The lake's water slowly came became still and reflective like a massive glass mirror. The wolf carefully stood up, "Come on... we ought to hit the road. I don't wanna keep your folks waiting too long" he said, getting an arm under Sierra's legs to lift her up again. Sierra kept her arms lazily around the wolf's neck, her face still in his shoulder as she was carried off.

"_Thank you.._."

* * *

As the two re-entered the empty stretch of highway, Doc caught something out of his rear-view mirror. A beige Crown Victoria had followed them off the entrance ramp, half-marked with police insignia. He squinted in the mirror, trying to examine it. Before he realized it, the red and blue lights on it started flashing as it raced to his bumper. Sierra jumped, her heart sinking at the sight. "Dammit..." Doc muttered, putting his hazards on and preparing to stop on the shoulder. "Sorry kid...looks like feds are gonna have you after all" he said, looking over at Sierra as they came to a stop. "D-Doc, I...I'm so sorry...th-they're gonna think you kidnapped me!" she stammered, scared and anxious with the car just sitting there. "They're not...I'm sure they'll believe you" he said, leaning his head into the left halo rest.

Finally, a man got out of the car, his uniform an oddly light navy blue. He had one small patch on what was a polo shirt with matching pants. There was no utility vest or belt on him. "That's...strange" he thought to himself. From what he could gather on his side mirror, the marks were only black stickers, and no car number seemed to be on the bumper. "Kid, keep your belts tight" he warned, rolling down the window for the officer.

"License and registration" he said sternly, the aviators blocking any emotion from his face. "Certainly...OH! Uh, before I do, I just want to let you know there's a firearm in the car. I have a CWP in the State of Michigan." Doc replied. The officer subtly lurched back, "Uh, yea that's fine...where are they?" he asked. "In the glove compartment next to the registration I have a revolver, and I have a shotgun in the back. Neither are loaded." Doc said calmly, keeping the hardest poker face to the officer. "Sierra, it's gonna be on the left side, next to the gun. Keep your hand as far away from it as possible" he calmly instructed. Sierra nodded, opening the compartment, shivering uncomfortably at the sight of the small arms. "Uh, while she's getting it, sir. May I see your badge?" Doc inquired. "My...I'm sorry, my badge?" the officer asked, the muscles in his face hinting confusion. "Uhh...yea...your badge. I just want to see it". The officer's swagger quickly returned, saying in a firm voice, "You don't need to see my badge!". Doc's ears pinned, looking down at the transmission lever; still in first gear. "Sir, I'm gonna have to ask you to step out of the car" the officer asked. Sierra's face turned to panic, "But, he didn't do any-". "STEP OUT OF THE CAR, NOW" the officer ordered, pulling on the locked door handle. The wolf slowly turned his face at the cop, disgusted as he kicked in the clutch. "Yea, BULLSHIT!" he yelled, revving the car off and clutch-dumping, peeling away at a full head of steam. The officer tried to hold on, didn't last very long, rolling along the car as he was thrown tangent to it. "OH MY GOD, WHAT ARE YOU DOING!?" Sierra screamed, "NOW YOU'RE GETTING ARRESTED FOR SURE!". "That was no cop! He had all the wrong signals" he barked.

Sierra tensed up, burying herself as far into the seat she could. "Don't worry kid, we'll outrun him. God knows what he had in store for us" Doc spoke with confidence, rowing through the gears as the engine roared with hell-turning rage. Her anxiety rose with the speedometer. "80... 100... 120... 130... 140..." her mind raced. As the speedometer topped 150, there was a small pop, the exhaust sound more like weak fumes as the engine loss rpm. Half the gauges instantly switched from green to red, some solid, some flashing, others fluctuating between red and yellow. "Whats going on?" Sierra cried. Doc furiously went through switches and combinations, pressing in the clutch and trying to stabilize the engine and rebuild compression. "Sierra, listen carefully. Grab that OBDII scanner I showed you and see if you can't find anything" Doc requested, staying oddly calm. The lioness fumbled the device as she pulled it out of the glove compartment, shaking it as the lights and buttons confused her. "But...w-what do I..." she stuttered, being interrupted by an irate wolf. "The fuckin' codes! You're looking for a code! Red button!". Sierra mashed it in, further menus popping up. She tried to get her way through the the device to find anything. "I-I don't see any-".

"THE MOTHERFUCKIN' CODE, IT OUGHT TO START WITH A 'P' AND END IN FOUR-NUMBERS" Doc screamed in anger, trying everything he could to keep the car going. Sierra looked out of the mirror, seeing red and blue lights get bigger and bigger in the mirror. "H-He's right be-"

"FORGET ABOUT HIM, WHAT DO YOU SEE!?" he further screamed.

"FUCK! UH-" Sierra tried to muttered. "P0304!" she yelled, tossing the device down and covering her face.

"HEY-" Doc quickly yelled at her, giving up trying to fix the motor. He took a few deep breaths, focusing back onto the road. "We dropped a cylinder" he said in a much calmer voice. "This ain't something I can fix on the fly".

The fake officer had gotten right behind them, his bumper beginning to tap into the back of the car. Doc fought to keep control, laying heavier on the throttle to get some distance. "Okay, Sierra I NEED you to do this. I know you ain't a fan of guns but I need you to put six shots in" he ordered, "Just keep your finger out of the guard and you'll be fine". Sierra gripped the revolver and the ammunition. Her grasp was shaking both from her own anxiety and the turbulence from the vehicle. The cylinder rolled out of position, Sierra staring down each of the chambers. "I can do this..." she chanted in her mind, slowly and shakily putting one shell in at a time. The officer gave a tougher ram into the back, lifting the rear axle off the ground before coming back; the violent swerving spilling the bullets all over the floor. "HURRY UP, DAMMIT!" Doc yelled impatiently. Sierra squeaked in fear, finishing off and holding the barrel, whipping the grip out in front of him and accidentally smacking his arm. He twitched at the feeling, violently grabbing the gun out of her hand, pulling back the hammer. "Thanks kid" he said in a contrasting soft demeanor, turning his body and sticking the gun out the window. "RAM THIS, ASSHAT" he screamed into the air, firing two shots back. One shattered the Crown Vic's windshield, the other missing. The impersonator slammed on the brakes, but not before Doc fired a third shot into the headlight. Just as quick as it started, it was over. Doc let out a sigh of relief, opening the cylinders to let the remaining bullets fall out as he tossed the revolver into Sierra's lap. "Thank god".

He slowed down the vehicle gradually, coasting along the highway as he carefully monitored the red gauges. "Thanks for your help, kid".

"Mhm..." Sierra meekly replied, face melancholic as she tossed the firearm back in the glove box. She folded her legs, placing her paws on the seat's lip and hugging them tightly with her chin on her knees. The wolf looked over with concern, "You okay?...Don't worry, he ain't gonna go to the police...or follow us". Sierra sighed, looking down at the spilled bullets under her feet, only slightly nodding. "Sierra...I'm sorry for screaming at ya back there. I uh..."

"No, it's fine...I was too stupid to do something simple" she sighed.

"Nah, I never taught you how to use the scanner. Don't beat yourself up too hard. I pressured you too much"

"We were in danger! Why wouldn't you?" she replied, trying to show more energy.

His eyes remained fixated on the road, hearing her voice uncomfortable. "It was the gun, wasn't it?" he asked.

"You were driving...I had to do it...I guess we needed it, but..."

"But it's not your belief to use them?" he interjected. "You don't have to lie to me, I respect your opinion. They're not for everyone...I suppose it wasn't necessary, but it was the first thing I thought of".

"I just can't believe I actually used one...or, loaded one to be used. It just feels off..." she trailed off. "Just what those things can do".

"Don't dwell on it" he replied, trying to comfort her. "Here, I think you're still wound up on today" he said softly, reaching in his pocket to pull out some Cat Nip. The lioness looked over, grabbing the bag to examine before gently shrugging, "Thanks..." she said weakly, reaching for her bong, "I guess I need some".

* * *

The night had fallen over the Kansas sky. Doc had pulled up to another old roadside motel, walking out of the lobby to open the passenger door to a sleeping Sierra. "Hey, we're stopping for the night" he said, gently patting her shoulder awake. The lioness slowly came out of her drug-induced high, "Oh...sorry" she gently whispered. Doc chuckled, shaking his head reaching his arms in. Just like the night before, he carefully pulled her out of the car, carrying her into another ran-down motel. Her arms just hung down beside her, eyes closed and head leaning into his upper arms. "Where are we?" she gently asked, voice still fairly weak. "Hays. We're still about 2 days away from home" he replied, carefully laying her down on the bed, tucking her in while she still wore his jacket.

"How're you feeling about it? Going home?" he asked. Sierra sighed, keeping her eyes closed as she curled up on the bed, "I'm still nervous...what if they don't love me?". "Kid, I'm telling you. They would never turn their daughter away" he insisted. "Come on now, let's get some rest. I gotta get up early to fix the car".


	8. Reconciliation

A long, drawn out exhale slipped through Sierra's lips, her eyes opening to a familiar dim room. Her body was sprawled out on the bed, seemingly alone. She looked around, still groggy to see her wrists tied up, although severed from the posts that once bounded her. She looked down her naked body, eyeing between her cleavage and down her legs to see that they too were tied up, but free from the bonds of the bed posts. Her eyes rolled back up to the ceiling, a wave of relief rolling through. She closed her eyes gently, feeling the mixture of soreness by relief radiate all over her body. Her breathing was heavy but slow, her mind feeling like it was being massaged tenderly with loving hands.

Soon, a warm, but silent feeling of fur and flush pressed into her thighs, slowly meshing from her bare hips up until she felt her breasts pressed in by larger and softer ones against her. Opening her eyes, her nose was gently pressed against the motherly lioness atop her, their lips nearly together as the two exposed felines stared into each other. The glare was peaceful, seemingly healing all the pain inside of Sierra. _"M-Mom?..."_ Sierra weakly called out.

**_"Shhhh..."_ **she gently replied, placing one hand under her daughter's head, the other under her back. Sierra merely submitted, being too mesmerized to react to it. She could feel her mother's paws press against the top of her feet as she adjusted her body carefully on top. Kate's expression remained soft and loving as she opened her lips;

**_"Did you finally realize?"_**

_"Realize?"_

**_"What you needed?"_**

_"You...you hurt me..."_

**_"..."_**

_"I thought you'd never forgive me..."_

**_"Sierra..."_**

_"Could you ever love me again?"_

**_"Love is patient, Sierra... love is kind...It does not dishonor others, nor self-seeking, nor easily angered... it keeps no record of wrongs"_**

Kate's remarks were followed by her lips pressing against Sierra's, sweetly kissing her lips, the sensation instantly rendering Sierra's body limp. The younger lioness felt the vestige of pain leave through her lips, and in return the warmth of the sun enter instead. Without realizing, she felt her body vibrated from purring, her tail wrapping around her mother's leg as she hugged her tightly, pressing her body down on her to keep as close as possible. Kate's hand gently rubbed between her daughter's ears, her fingers between the soft spikes on her head as she continued to make out with her.

Soon, Kate gently pulled away, her smile still tender and forgiving as she looked down, her hand gently feeling her daughter's choker. Sierra opened her eyes, her hand reaching for her mother's cheek as her eyes were more needy, almost begging for her lips to return. Kate merely gripped her hand with the softest touch, holding it as her eyes fixated into her daughter's, _**"Come home, Sierra... he'll see you safely... I'll make sure of it"**_ she whispered. Sierra's lips were once more met with Kate's, although the sensation seemed to fade. Her vision became blurred before fading to black, returning into the void she had aroused from.

* * *

Sierra woke up in the morning, the sun's rays greeting her as she gently sat up, stretching her arms in the air and arching her back. Her head felt at peace; optimistic and hopeful for the coming days. She looked over to the bed next to her, seeing Doc sitting off the edge and facing away. His hood was up, seeming looking as he sighed heavily "Good morning" she said with a sweet smile. There was no reply.

Sierra carefully stood up, stretching her legs out. "Doc?" she asked, limping up to him with a look of concern, "Is everything okay?". The wolf grimaced, looking down with a stricken stare. "What's wrong?" she asked worried, resting her arms on his shoulder. "It's nothin', kid" he replied, his deep voice gargled and raspy as ever. Her ears tucked, concern further growing on her face, "I know that's not true" she replied, sitting on the bed next to him. "You were there for me ever since we met...I need to do the same to you".

"No, you really don't have to" Doc tried to assure.

"I NEED to know what happened" she affirmed, her gaze caring as she scooted closer, holding his arm.

Doc looked over, biting his lower lip as he contemplated a few moments. "Kid..." his voice boomed with lamentation. "I've seen things...done things...things you will never understand... things I don't even understand why I did it" he muttered. "I was reminded of that yesterday".

The sunshine was slowly blocked out, the skies morphing to a dark grey as the sun tried to shine. Doc had a thousand-yard stare, something horrific had resurfaced in his mind. The cracks of a broken man, for the first time, had shown itself to Sierra. She extended an arm around him, hugging him, whispering in his ear, "It's the war...right?". His breath stuttered, trying to inhale for a response. "Doc, it's okay...I'm not angry at you...you saved us from that fraud...I-...I wish I could say I know it's hard, but..." her voice trailed off, her face burning with helplessness. The wolf finally croaked, "It's what happened after".

Sierra rubbed his far shoulder, keeping her gaze fixated on the wolf who couldn't bring himself to look her in the eyes. "I lost...I lost the gift God had gave me. I was devastated. And when we first talked, all those awful memories came back" he continued.

Sierra thought to herself for a moment, her eyes widening to the awful realization, "The man you told me about...who lost his son...that was you, wasn't it?". He sniffled in response, wiping his face off hastily. "I spent everything on him...took out tough short-term loans...used up my pension...did everything to help him...for nothing" he explained. "I was angry...confused...scared... I buried him myself" he uttered as he covered his face with both hands, trying to keep himself together. Sierra did her best to comfort him, rubbing his back silently as she snuggled in closer. "I became so bitter...me and the mother, we started arguing, fighting. We couldn't stand to be around each other anymore. Whatever we had together...it died with him" Doc shuttered, drops forming on the carpet under him.

His breathing rumbled with pain, trying to muster up the strength to continue. Sierra gently kissed his head, resting her own on top to try and keep him calm. "One day, I came home after talking to the bank about restructuring my debt, repossessing my home..." he tried to get out, his voice getting higher. "And before I knew it, she was on the ground" he choked up. His crying was fully evident at this point, but Sierra couldn't continue to help, in shock at what she heard. "She begged me to stop...I begged myself to stop. I saw what I was doing to her and I was horrified by it. It's...I-it's like a demon took over my body and there was nothing I could do but helplessly watch" he muttered out quickly, taking a long, heavily stuttered breath to continue. "I had beaten her so badly that...that when they brought me to court, they charged me with assault with a deadly weapon because they didn't think that I..." he tried to rush out again, interrupted by his own sobbing as his body shook uncontrollably.

"They acquitted me on grounds of clemency...saying the war did it to me" he whispered softly. His despair quickly shifted into anger, hatred filling his body,"THAT WAS A DAMN LIE!".

Sierra's face broke, her ears pinning to her head as unease filled her body. She struggled to comprehend what she was hearing, "I just wanted to stop...just hold her and beg her for forgiveness...but I didn't, I COULDN'T!... THEY SHOULDA LOCKED ME UP FOREVER!". His voice became far more agitated and aggressive. "I'm a fuckin' hypocrite, kid...when we were skipping stones, those words I told you... I wish I could've done the same".

The lioness was mortified, fear taking her over, trying to resist the urge to move away from him. "_Oh my god... I...how do I even respond_" her mind raced, still gripping the distraught wolf. "It's part of why I begged you to go home...losing your child...you'll never be the same person again" he whimpered out. "I hated myself so fuckin' much, man... All my damn life my father preached never to lay a hand on a woman like that...I hated those who did all my life... I don't deserve forgiveness... I refused to be called my real name so much, I don't even remember what it was".

Doc took a second to clear his throat, Sierra finally pulling the wolf to lean into her, letting his heavy head rest on her shoulder. "_He...He can be forgiven_" she tried to rationalize. She looked down to her legs; the cuts nearly gone, her wrapped leg healing by the day. "_He...he couldn't have done this..._".

"I swore off who I was...I didn't want to believe I was him...I killed him" he continued. His voice gargled, growling erratically with clenched fists, his face strained as the memories played with such surreal.

"_**I HATE HIM!**_" he yelled with such ferocity that the walls and floor shook to the boom of his voice.

His body eventually loosened up, the energy being sucked out of him, being limp as a corpse. He gingerly turned his stare at Sierra's worried green eyes, his own were filled with fear, his face plastered with grief and remorse. "You...you ran away from yourself?" she quietly asked, her eyes watering a bit from the radiating pain. "Yep" he quickly responded, nodding his head quickly. "That's why I wanted you to go home...begged and pleaded with you. I'll never have closure for what I did. It's been haunting me ever since...I didn't want that to happen to you, or your family". He coughed, taking another large gulp to clear his throat, "I don't want you to make the same mistake I made".

His head rolled back down, staring at the floor below, "I'm a monster kid...I know that's how you feel about me now". "No...No no no...y-you're not" Sierra quickly responded, stroking his head. "You've done something horrible before...but...you've done so much good" she said with the softness of an angel. "You've done so much for me, at least... you're trying to right what you did...you're helping me reunite with my family" her eyes teared up, "You saved my life from the compound". Doc had calmed down some, returning to a state of grimace as he looked at their paws. "But you know how severe it is...society rightfully oughta shun me..." he whimpered out. "I became the very thing I hated".

The lioness covered her face with her free hand, breathing heavily. "I'm sorry, Sierra...I know that was difficult to hear...I know you can't understand" he softly uttered. "God, I pray you never know what it's like to bury your children".

The lioness wrapped his arm around her neck, "Come on" she said in a soft, calming voice. "We can take today off...I'll brew you something" she offered.

Sierra gently pecked Doc's cheek, who didn't react to it at all. She slowly got up, grabbing a packet of ground coffee to brew. She looked over sympathetically, softly sighing to herself as she leaned into the table. "_Am...Am I safe around him?_" she thought to herself. "_He's a changed person...right? He was angry at me before but...he did absolutely nothing_". She began to question him the longer she stared, her mind becoming unnerved. "_He could have taken advantage of me at any point, like everyone else did...he didn't...he's done nothing but support me. He's been the only person I could trust_".

She returned to his side later, carefully handing over a steaming hot cup, "Here you go" she gently said. He gripped it with one hand, blowing it gently to cool off before taking a sip. "Thanks, kid" he mumbled. Sierra grabbed one of the comforters to wrap him in, sitting next to him under the cover as she sipped out of her cup with both hands.

_"He could have unleashed that emotion on me..."_

_"What if it's only a matter of time?... I don't have any other option..."_

_"It's been...years since he could have done this..."_

"Doc..." she gently spoke, looking at him with sincerity. Her eyes were wide, compassionate as they were reflective. "I just want you to know that I trust you..." she trailed off. The large wolf turned his head slightly, catching her face out of the corner of his eye before nudging his head into her cheek, "Thanks..." he replied somberly.

The atmosphere still felt raw, the sound of rain lightly tapping on the roof ensued as the two sat silently. "_He needs help..._" Sierra thought to herself.

She finally found the courage to spoke, "Did you ever see her again?" she said nearly silent. He only shook his head, "That was the last time I saw her...and I don't blame her...it was the last time I saw myself". She thought back to the car chase the day before, the sudden calm in his voice after screaming. Was it the person he killed clawing out? The rains continued to come down heavily, the once bright room now difficult to see without light. "What did you do after?" she whispered softly. There was no reply, only a long sip of coffee to be heard in response. She softly sighed, her head racing to try and recover from the question.

"Just did the only thing I knew best...drive" he mumbled out, wiping his eye sockets out. "I never felt like I gave penance..." he mumbled as the thunder crackled outside. "I...spent a lot of my time volunteering, especially for protective groups...I never told anyone about it" he continued, "But it seems like so little so late".

"But, you're trying...it's more than most others could say" Sierra pointed out.

"It'll take a hell of a lot more than that".

"But it's a start" Sierra affirmed, her hand slipping in to hold his. "You want to forgive yourself... but you feel like you can't because of society?" she gently asked.

He sat there in contemplation, eyes dotting around the floor, silently nodding in agreement.

Sierra too a long inhale, sweetly kissing his cheek for a few moments before opening her mouth, "Someone once told me...not long ago...that in order for others to forgive you, you have to forgive yourself" she gently spoke, her voice becoming sincere. "I don't think it occurred to him that it applies to him too...and that he just needed someone to tell him that" she added, her voice therapeutic to his ears.

He slowly buried his face into both his hands, the rain outside slowing as he sighed heavily. The sun's rays appeared through the window again, slowly lifting the room's atmosphere to a more peaceful state. Doc turned his body, arm tightly squeezing the lioness as he breathed heavily. Sierra hugged back as tight she she could, closing her eyes as her chin rested on his shoulder. "I love you, kid..." he trailed off, his voice as hoarse as ever.

"I love you too..."

* * *

"Kate...did you want any more wine?" Victoria asked softly, holding a full glass of red wine in her hand and the bottle on the table. The lioness merely shook her head, supine and mesmerized by the spinning blades of the fan. The white tigress sighed, taking a small sip, watching the bleak skies roll through the desert, "You're going to have to talk to him at some point".

"I know" she whispered back, holding her hands together anxiously.

Victoria rose from her chair, walking over to sit next to the lioness's head, gently placing her free hand on her forehead while looking down softly, "Was it really that bad?" she asked softly. Kate nodded silently, face grimacing as she remembered. "I want to go back so badly... but how could I?" she whimpered out.

"Kate, I can't let you suffer like this... it's only going to be resolved if you confront him about it". The lioness's eyes rolled back to meet the tigress's crystal blue ones. "I can go with you... it doesn't have to be alone" Victoria added with a gentle demeanor.

"Larry, you oughta quit drinking that crap for awhile" Sarmoti suggested, tossing the last can of beer into the trash. Larry laid hungover on the couch, his head pulsating from the hangover he worked up. "How the hell you gonna explain to your son that you spent that whole night drinkin', anyhow?" the elder lion asked, returning to sit on the adjacent couch. "I just want Kate back..." he trailed off, his dilated pupils wobbling as it fixated on the light above him. "I know ya do, son..." Sarmoti trailed off with a more sympathetic tone, "But you can't just lay on your back all day. There ain't gonna be some gorgeous, blue-eyed, white-fur angel that'll knock on your door to hand her back over to ya" he continued.

Suddenly, the door emitted a gentle knocking.

"I'll get it" Sarmoti sighed, walking to open the door, revealing to him a gorgeous, blue-eyed, white-fur tigress. "Good mother of God..." he murmured, eyes widening as he ate is own words. "Is Larry here?" she asked softly. "Uh...yea, he is" he replied, snapping out of his fixation, "But uh, he ain't doin' so well right now" he added. "That's fine" she continued, stepping out of the way to let Kate shuffle in front of her. She held her own clenched fist, her face flushed with guilt and remorse as she peered inside, gasping softly at the sight. "Sweetheart?" Sarmoti asked, surprised to have seen her come back so soon.

Kate didn't respond, slowly maneuvering her way past her father as she walked towards her stricken husband, "L-Larry?" she softly called out, her voice trembling in anxiety. The lion lazily rolled his head, the dilated pupils and weakened face shooting Kate with further concern as she quickly shuffled her way over. "K-Kate?" he softly called out in disbelief.

His wife knelt beside him, eyes watering as she laid a paw on his head, "_Oh my God...What have I done?_" she shivered out. "H-honey, I...I'm so sorry" she begged, pleading for clemency. Victoria and Sarmoti shuffled to the other side of the table, watching the two from a distance. "Kate...I-..." he weakly replied, out of energy as the heavy smell of alcohol blew forth from his mouth. Her breathing became more stuttered, holding his large hand with both of her smaller ones. "It's okay..." he finished off.

"Okay?..." she whispered in disbelief.

"Yes, honey... I...I know that wasn't the real you" he said, still slightly delirious from the night. He pulled his held hand closer to him, beckoning his wife to lean in, "We can talk about this later... I'm just glad the woman of my dreams came back so soon".

The two embraced each other, sharing a sweet kiss with each other. Sarmoti gently elbowed the tigress, silently motioning for the two to leave outside.

Kate slowly climbed herself on top of Larry, snuggling on top with her head tucked under his, clinging tightly to him with a soft purr, "I'll do anything for you, dear... I've hurt you too much". The larger lion lazily hugged her back, kissing the top of her head, "It wasn't you... I said we can talk about it later tonight, I just wanna hold you right now" he murmured out. Kate closed her eyes, sighing in relief and guilt, just wanting to comfort her husband. The male lion gently stroke the length of her back, gliding his hand over her curvature and resting onto her rear, repeating the slow motion over and over to Kate's delightful purring.

The soft sound of pattering from the stairs emanated, "Mom!" Hunter cried out, running up to the two lions to grip and hold the lioness's tail. Kate looked over her shoulder, reaching a paw out to pull her son closer, kissing the top of his head with a sweet smile, "Hi sweetie..." she weakly called out, still purring on top of Larry. Hunter silently hugged her arm, smiling warmly as he rubbed his coneless head into her upper arm.

* * *

The sun had brightened the old motel room, illuminating a prone wolf on his side. Sierra sat next to him, her hand gently stroking his head with soft eyes monitoring him. Doc was far calmer, his mind melting from the mild massage. The lioness leaned down, kissing his temple softly for a few seconds, before leaning back up only slightly. He responded with a very low-pitch rumble, tucking his head back into her legs for comfort. She carefully adjusted his head to rest on her lap, continuing to try and comfort him.

"You're a sweet girl, Sierra" he murmured out, "I don't deserve it". "It's fine..." she whispered out, ear pinned to her. Doc released a long and drawn out sigh, somewhat messing with the tip of her tail over his hip, contempt with the silence in the room.

"I only knew her for... I think 4 months?... the baby wasn't even mine, but...hell, I didn't care" he said softly.

"You never had sex with her?" she asked softly.

He only shook his head, "Was superstitious about what might happen to the child...and was too busy to after his birth". He reached over to take another sip of the near-empty brew Sierra had made him, coughing as put it back. "Only sex I ever had was driving... at least, I enjoy it as much as most people enjoy intercourse" he muttered, his eyes turning up the Sierra's. "Don't know if you really understand".

She gently shook her head, "I- uh... N-No, I don't..." she trailed off, fumbling her words. Doc gave a soft, amused huff, "It's fine kid, I don't judge y'all. It's normal for kids your age... I just ain't one of the cool ones". Sierra's face lit up red, "It was only a few times...but it was nice" she softly defended, though wanting to try and lift the mood in the atmosphere slightly.

"As you probably guessed, I was...well, mostly a good boy... the most rebellious, though downright reckless thing I've done is street racing... same car you were in and same car I raced in sanctioned events with" he said, a very weak smile trying to stretch his face. "I always wanted to take some girl with me...but, felt it was always too dangerous for them. I'm sure you've seen what happens when things go wrong". Sierra's face grimaced a bit at the mental image, "Yeah...".

Doc's face returned to a melancholic state, staring straight at the wall with a thousand yard stare, "Guess that's why I did it...why I race today at such ridiculous speeds... guess I didn't think I was really worth saving".

"Don't say that!" Sierra softly interjected with a trembled voice. "You're more than worth it... no matter what... you are to me" her eyes and neck feeling a slight burn to them.

Doc sighed to himself, carefully sitting up close to the lioness. His eyes were mid flashback, pupils trembling and widening, thumping his foot on the floor. Sierra silently looked in concern, gripping his shoulder. The sounds of roaring engines filled his eardrums, multiple accidents filling his head at once. The concrete walls, the driver-side impacts, the violent flipping, the raging infernos. His breathing picked up, eyes fixated on the memory as the engine noises seemed to climb in never-ending pitch. His thoughts accelerated, the scenes playing out together in increasing speed as his mind raced. "Doc?..." Sierra asked in concern.

His body only tensed up, further and further as voices rung through his head. His head cluttered with visions of tarpped cars and bodies, crushed roll cages, him being extracted from multiple accidents. His head was rushing towards the singularity faster and faster, the sounds of roaring engines from just the day before interjected the higher pitched ones drilling his head. Suddenly his body violently released, the breath being sucked out of him through exorcism. He blinked his eyes rapidly for a few moments, shaking his head softly before returning his gaze to the concerned lioness.

"You know, Sierra..." he softly spoke. She moved closer, her eyes wider as she leaned into his side.

"I survived a lot of accidents... when I was young, and professionally... some the doctors flat out said I should not have lived through it... and I've been in plenty of races were drivers were paralyzed, or flat out killed... when I wasn't".

Sierra gently nodded her head, her face mildly burning in fear of a relapse of earlier.

"I've wondered for a long time... why I didn't go... what God had in store for me all this time..." he continued, his eyes softer, shivering an inhale. "I think I know why..." he trailed off with a warm smile growing on his face, eyeing the lioness's face. The two instantly embraced each other, holding each other as tight as they could. The moment lasted for minutes, before the two held each other's shoulders with a sweet smile. "Lemme fix the car...we'll do somethin' fun as soon as it's fixed" he offered.


	9. Disappointing End

**I regret to announce that this is over**

I just don't have the time nor interest in finishing. I doubt anyone will read this anyways.

It ends pretty much as predictably as you'd expected; Doc and Sierra return to Vegas and are reunited with Sierra's family.

If you're reading this from the future, I regret having to inform you. But, thank you for reading if you made it this far.


End file.
